Family, friends and colleagues bid farewell to Andrew Wickham

The funeral of Go South Coast Managing Director Andrew Wickham took place on 27 June, with family, friends and colleagues joined by a cortege that included 14 coaches and buses representing various stages of his illustrious and award-winning career.

Mr Wickham died at the age of 58 over the weekend of 24/25 May after a long illness. He has been widely credited for his work at Go South Coast over 14 years and was awarded an MBE for his contribution to the bus industry at the start of 2025.

The cortege made its way through Poole bus station for a final salute and then moved on to a church service in Mr Wickham’s home village of Sturminster Marshall, with a police escort provided to ensure minimal disruption.

Those present at the service in St Mary’s Church later attended a celebration of life event at Upton Country Park, with a bus service arranged to transport mourners between locations.

Local people lined the cortege route to show respect for Mr Wickham, whose leadership drove members of the Go South Coast team and saw all colleagues “utterly dedicated to [his] vision to improve services and increase the popularity of bus travel,” the operator notes.

Buses within the cortege included an AEC Routemaster from London Transport, a Volvo Ailsa from West Midlands Travel, a Dennis Dart from Brighton Blue Bus, an open-top Southdown Leyland PD3 ‘Queen Mary’, and a Bristol VR in Wilts and Dorset livery that remains part of the Go South Coast fleet.

Since his passing, it has been revealed that Mr Wickham played a major part in advising the Department for Transport on bus industry support measures during the pandemic, with a current minister noting the value to the wider industry of those contributions and Mr Wickham’s willingness to assist.

Among the large industry representation among mourners was Go South Coast Interim MD Ben Murray. He adds that Mr Wickham’s final journey reflected his lifetime enthusiasm for public transport.

“As in life, Andrew very much led the way and was specific about how his funeral and wake should play out. The buses that carried mourners to the service included vehicles which had been important to him during different periods of his life,” says Mr Murray.

“There were also coaches and buses from each of the operators within the Go South Coast family – including Morebus, Bluestar, Southern Vectis, Damory, Swindon’s Bus Company, Salisbury Reds, and Excelsior.

“He was one of a kind, and we were incredibly fortunate to have him at the helm. He was also a great family man, and we hope we did them proud with this wonderful procession. Our thoughts are with them as they come to terms with this incredibly sad and untimely loss.”