Success in the first round of bus franchising contract awards in the Liverpool City Region will see the Go-Ahead Group make changes to the senior leadership of its subsidiaries in the north of England from 2 February.
Go North West will take up a large contract for services in Wirral in the autumn to sit alongside its work in Greater Manchester in a move that will add 117 buses to its operation. With that expanded footprint, Go North West Managing Director Nigel Featham will cease holding the same position at Go North East.
Mr Featham joined Go-Ahead in 2019. He previously held senior roles with Arriva and what is now the Warrington’s Own Buses business.
His successor in the North East will be Ben Gilligan, who is to move from the role of Managing Director of East Yorkshire Buses. Mr Gilligan has been with the Hull-based business since 2018 and led it since 2022.
As a result, a new Managing Director for East Yorkshire Buses will be appointed, but in the meantime, Go North West Operations Director Matt Ashton will step in on an interim basis.
Speaking about the shuffle, Go-Ahead Managing Director, UK Regional Bus, Martin Dean says: “Nigel has been a fantastic leader for Go North East and Go North West, but with the new [franchising] contract on Wirral, he will now dedicate his time solely to Go North West.
“Ben will be an excellent Managing Director at Go North East, and we are very grateful for Matt’s help while we search for a new Managing Director for East Yorkshire Buses. These changes are a positive result of us growing our business and serving even more customers with our award winning bus services.”
