Nottingham City Transport (NCT) Managing Director Mark Fowles retired on 1 April after 27 years with the operator, including 20 as MD.
Mark joined the National Bus Company’s highly regarded senior management training scheme in 1984. He became NCT Deputy MD in June 1994 with an initial remit to ensure that it participated in the proposed light rail system for the region. He was promoted to MD of the business in 2001. Following a successful bid, Mark also took up the role of Chairman of the Arrow Consortium, which reintroduced trams to Nottingham in early 2004.
Under Mark’s leadership NCT has established itself as one of the UK’s most successful operators. He has taken NCT from what by its own admission was “an under-achieving, loss making municipal bus company” and transformed it into a beacon of the industry, having won countless awards along the way.
Among the business’s other achievements over that period have been helping Nottingham to achieve the highest customer satisfaction level of any city in the UK; the introduction of a large fleet of biogas-fuelled double-deckers; and a reduction in average fleet age to five years. The latter work has seen fleet emissions fall by 90%.
Mark has also been active within the wider sector. His contribution to trade bodies including the Association of Local Bus Managers (ALBUM) and the Confederation of Passenger Transport is well known, as is his organisation of charity golf days.
Mark’s retirement ceremony ahead of the Easter weekend saw him presented with gifts by colleagues and friends from across the industry, including a long service certificate.
He says: “It has been a great privilege and honour to serve as Managing Director of Nottingham City Transport. I am proud of the company’s achievements during my 20 years as MD, which has turned NCT into an award winning, pioneering bus company that is highly regarded both locally and nationally.
“I thank employees past and present, along with friends throughout the industry, for their support. I will always treasure my time with NCT.”
Mark Fowles is succeeded as MD by David Astill, formerly NCT Commercial and Operations Director.
