Stagecoach celebrates International Women’s Day 2022 by highlighting equality efforts

Credit: Stagecoach

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2022, UK bus and coach operator Stagecoach has launched its Women@Stagecoach employee network, with the aim to promote and support women and equality in the business with both men and women working together, as well as promote a diverse working environment and give women a voice to share their concerns and issues that particularly impact them.

Furthermore, in West Scotland, for the first time, the team will run an all-female driver bus route in Ayrshire to promote career opportunities for females within the bus industry and women’s progress in conquering traditionally male-dominated professions. The busy Service 3 route between Onthank and Shortlees in Kilmarnock will be operated by female drivers for the day, driving Stagecoach’s new 100 per cent, zero-emission buses.

Stagecoach is also celebrating its success in female recruitment, with an 18 per cent increase in female driver applications compared to 2021. In addition, over a third of females are currently highlighted as successors within the business, who have been nominated as top talent to join its internal development programme, ‘Shine Pool’.

The new employee networks are a key part of Stagecoach’s overall objective that was set out in its recently launched sustainability strategy, which has an objective of achieving 40 per cent of females in leadership roles by 2024.

Stagecoach‘s UK Managing Director, Carla Stockton-Jones; West Scotland Managing Director, Fiona Doherty; and Health, Safety and Environment Director, Sharon Vye-Parminter, have all been recognised in Women to Watch and Role Models for Inclusion 2021, showcasing some of the very best female talent within the business.

The operator has also made a number of senior female appointments in the last 12 months, welcoming Rachel Geliamassi as Managing Director for West and Janine Summers as Regional Director for the North.

Carla Stockton-Jones, UK Managing Director for Stagecoach, and the first woman to lead a major transport operator in the UK, said: “I am extremely proud of the work that our people and employee networks are doing to make important changes in our business. Our employee networks help to raise awareness of many issues and this awareness starts conversations which leads to self-awareness and then, ultimately, change. International Women’s Day continues to be an important platform for starting these conversations and, with this year’s theme being #breakthebias, it allows men to join the conversation and become advocates, which is equally as important.”

“I am committed to supporting females in our business and helping to break some of the stereotypical views and biases,” said Sharon Vye-Parminter, Health, Safety and Environment Director for Stagecoach. “We have made lots of good progress in the Diversity and Inclusion agenda, and I am looking forward to seeing how we as a business and also how our employee networks progress over the next 12 months.”