Transit, the UK's news and analysis publication for passenger transport professionals, has recently published its "Power 50", the top 50 people in the UK bus and rail industries with the most power and influence to make changes in a sector where, says Transit, “change is often painfully slow". "Candidates were judged on two key criteria - the clout that they wield in their current position and the cultural influence that they exert on their peers". We congratulate Roger French, Managing Director of the Brighton & Hove Bus & Coach Company, the main bus company in our PROCEED Case Study city of Brighton, for coming 35 in the “Power 50”: one of only two local bus operator Managing Directors in the list. Here is what the Transit "Power 50" says about him.

Roger French – Brighton’s shining example
Roger French has been Managing Director of Go Ahead's highly respected Brighton & Hove bus company for 12 years, during which high standards of service have been accompanied by impressive passenger growth. When the bus industry wants to show a new Minister that the deregulated model for buses is working, they take them on a trip to Brighton to see Roger.

French's first taste of the bus industry came early. Before going to university, he worked as a temporary clerk for London Transport in 1970, where he "got a taste for the bureaucracy of running buses". After graduating in 1975 he joined the National Bus Company and in 1982 he moved to its Brighton-based Southdown subsidiary, where he became Assistant Traffic Manager. Three years later he took up residence in the office he still occupies when was appointed General Manager for the Brighton & Hove business created out of Southdown prior to privatisation. He was part of the team that bought the company from NBC in 1987 and subsequently sold it to Go Ahead. In 1995 he was promoted to Managing Director, and in 1997 oversaw the acquisition of neighbouring former local authority operator Brighton Blue Bus. Brighton & Hove was announced as Bus Operator of the Year in 1998.

After 25 years in Brighton he says his roots are too strong for him to move away. His philosophy is one of building long standing relationships with the local community. "I am as proud to be Managing Director of Brighton & Hove as I am to be a Managing Director within the city," he maintains. French is chair of the Hove Business Partnership and is also on the executive committee of the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce. He never turns down a request to talk to a group in the city about his business, no matter who they are”

We thank Transit for permission to publish this extract from the “Power 50”