Vitto Pizzuti is promoted to Operations Director, based in Harrogate, while Paul Turner is promoted to Commercial Director position based in Burnley
Transdev has promoted two new Directors, Vitto Pizzuti and Paul Turner, as the operator announces a road map for future growth following the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
Vitto takes up the position of Operations Director in Harrogate, while Paul takes on the role of Commercial Director based in Burnley.
Both men started as bus drivers early in their transport careers.
Vitto joined as a driver for Trentbarton in 2004, where he soon rose to become General Manager at the company’s Sutton depot. He became Operations Manager at Trentbarton’s Nottingham depot in 2016, and joined Transdev as Head of Delivery in June 2018.
Paul meanwhile brings experience from a 12-year career with passenger transport consultancy the TAS Partnership, where he worked to improve leading bus and light rail groups. After time spent at First Yorkshire he moved to become Head of Commercial Development at Transdev in 2018.
Vitto will help oversee a ‘digital transformation’ of Transdev’s engineering function. Called ‘Power Up’, a full-fleet digital management system is being introduced starting in Harrogate and spreading across the company. It will give Transdev engineers the ability to carry out vehicle inspections electronically for the first time, Vitto says, with data being fed into its parts stores and finance colleagues. It will allow operations teams to see what buses are available at a glance, and speed up the flow of information back to engineers for more efficient maintenance.
He adds that Transdev is investing in driver training and welfare facilities, and is preparing to launch new buses for York City Sightseeing, Witchway Burnley and Manchester as well as Cityzap, between Leeds and York.
In the meantime, Paul will be working to attract customers back to buses as demand for travel returns. “We’re already working with key destinations to explain how we can help with their return in the next few months. It’s not just about promoting our product – we now blend that with reassurance about safety and hygiene through our ‘Clean, Safe, Ready to Go’ campaigns.
Transdev continues to develop its dialogue with customers, informed through its regular ‘Talk Shop’ briefings. Eight or nine new schedules have been produced in the last few months, Paul says, led by data and trends. July will see the next set of changes introduced.
CEO Alex Hornby welcomed the promotions. He says: “Vitto and Paul are among the very best at what they do. Our operational and commercial functions – and the teams who support them – are in great hands, and I am very much looking forward to continuing to develop our visionary and customer-led business with our many amazing colleagues throughout our company.”