FIRST TRAVEL SOLUTIONS - Key Persons
Andy's worked for First Group for over 20 years and has delivered the ground transport for a series of high profile sporting events. Andy has over 30 years' experience in front line, project management and operational delivery in the bus industry.
He joined the London Transport graduate management scheme in 1983 and worked in a diverse range of departments and depots across the capital before moving to GM Buses in Manchester in 1990. From 1998 to 2007 Andy was an Operations Director and then Managing Director for First's companies in West Yorkshire before becoming Managing Director at First Manchester in 2007.
Andy's role at the London 2012 Olympics was to establish the new First Games Transport (FGT) operation, recruit the delivery team and manage the overall project to ensure the successful delivery at Games time. He successfully replicated this operating model at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, ER2015 Rugby World Cup, Glasgow 2018 and UCLF 2017. Andy is currently Managing Director of First Travel Solutions.
Job Titles:
- System Development Manager
Chris has been with FirstGroup since 2015. New to the Transport industry, Chris brings 12 years of experience in project management and operational delivery related to roles from a variety of industries.
Creates and develops with our partners bespoke systems to support our business objectives, operations requirements, reporting, safety and more. Chris also project manages operations system development and website and ticket sales sites.
Chris's knowledge and experience with various industries make him a valuable asset that brings experience in the planning and practical implementation of projects.
Darren is our Client Account Director and will ensure service levels are met and exceeded for all our clients, including Rail, Airlines, Sports and Events industries.
Darren has predominantly worked in supply chain with experience in Rail, in the past and is a key member of our team.
Darren believes people are key to delivering managed transport and with his values of honesty, integrity and accountability we know he will deliver a better experience inside and out!
Job Titles:
- Head of Delivery - Major Projects
Darren was fist involved in Event transport in 2006 at the Doha Asian Games. After five years with RBS, the pull of returning to events could not be resisted and took the role of Media Transport Manager for London 2012. After the Games, Darren went on to work with MV Global, working on a number of projects worldwide. Notably he was VIP & Sponsor Transport Manager at Glasgow 2014, working alongside First Travel Solutions.
Since Glasgow, Darren has overseen the Transport arrangements for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, working with all stakeholders, including the Government, Police and Traffic Engineers to deliver a successful plan and embed the plan for future years.
Darren has now joined FTS to manage our various work streams and contracts in relation to sporting events, starting with the UEFA Champions League Final in Cardiff in June & IPC/IAAF World Championships in London in Summer 2017 and senior leadership of the European Championships at Glasgow 2018.
Darren now works with the Commercial Director targeting opportunities outside of the UK.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Consultant
If you are organising a trip that involves hiring a coach, a minibus, a car or even a train then David is the right person to speak to.
He has experience and achievements in the transportation sector over the last 25 years and is ideally suited to help you navigate the complex national network.
Having worked for many of the country's leading rail operators, including Eurostar and Great Western, David has an extensive contact book and has been recognised as an individual that builds and develops strong and reliable teams that deliver on client aspirations.
Business development is one of his key strengths and he has added value at senior levels for many years. David has won multiple awards based around innovation in the travel, leisure and customer service sectors and was the driving force for the UK's first ever rail and air ticketing product, a partnership he developed with Singapore Airlines and Great Western.
Gary's worked in the transport industry for 20 years, starting as Depot Supervisor for a major independent bus company in the north east of England.
From 1999, Gary spent 7 years as a Senior Public Transport Officer for Suffolk County Council. After that he progressed his career with National Express as a Service Delivery Manager within their rail replacement division.
Gary's currently an Operations Manager with FTS with the responsibility of the contract with Great Western Railway (GWR). Gary's a key member of the Major Project Delivery group within GWR and has delivered a number of successful major rail replacement operations. Gary's been with FTS since 2008.
Job Titles:
- Games Transport Consultant
Joe's first role in transport was in 2012 at the London Olympics Torch Relay. That was closely followed by working on the actual Games. He also worked on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia where he was Fleet Manager.
Joe first worked with FTS as a Deputy Bus System Manager at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. He's also been the Bus System Manager at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. After finishing this role Joe joined FTS as a permanent fixture in the role of an Operations Manager on the Great Western Railway rail replacement contract.
Project managing the transport solution for the 2018 Glasgow European Championships was a highlight for Joe, from helping to map out the initial transportation strategy, through to delivering and co-ordinating over 70 vehicles and 60 ground staff each day throughout the event.
John has worked in the transport industry since 1995, and seen many changes during that time, but his core approach has always been the same: working hard to provide the very best service in terms of safety, reliability and value for money.
The role has taken John from Birmingham to Bahrain, managing large-scale transport operations for both public sector and private organisations. He helped to make sure thousands of football fans arrived safely at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for the 2017 UEFA Champions League final, liaising with multiple stakeholders and responding to fast-changing transport requirements.
Currently, John is responsible for planning and delivering rail replacement bus services for major UK rail operators and supporting the rollout of vehicle tracking technology to improve the passenger experience.
Job Titles:
- Business Operations Director
Katie joined FTS in October 2022 in the newly created role of Business Development Director. The role is focused on improving our operations internally and externally to deliver the best experiences to our clients and their customers, as we continue to grow our business.
Katie joined us from e.on Energy (and previously First Direct Bank) where she worked for 14 years in senior operational and strategic roles including leading change, digital operations and customer services during a challenge time in the energy industry.
Our "Why" at First Travel Solutions is Delivering Better Experiences and Katie is leading the team in ensuring this is delivered every time, at every event for our customers. Which means ensuring our people are having the best experience too.
Job Titles:
- Head of Business Performance
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
Kerry joined FTS in February 2014 and was completely new to the transport industry. Kerry's had a diverse career that started in Japan where she taught English as a foreign language after graduating from university. Kerry returned to the UK 18 months later where she joined the National Probation Service. After several years in this industry Kerry started a highly successful management career in retail, working for both MFI and B&Q.
At FTS Kerry has overhauled all safety policies and procedures, staff training and she was a principle contributor towards FTS's 100% compliance score during a FirstGroup safety audit in 2015. Kerry solely project managed and delivered three ISO accreditations for Quality Management, Environmental Management and Occupational Health and Safety Management. This resulted in a First UK Bus Excellence Award for Innovation and Change in June 2016 and a FirstGroup Be First Award for 'Delivering our Vision' in May 2017.
After Managing our Internal Operations Team with an operational team of approximately 30 employees, she is now Head of Business Performance managing over 300 employees across the UK and one of our key clients.
As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, Kerry is a key driver of continually building and improving our team. Kerry has put together a number of successful management days to outline and drive key strategies, identify opportunities and to further solidify our widespread management team.
Job Titles:
- Operational Support Manager
Mark joined FTS in 2007, starting as a Controller, promoted to Duty Manager and then becoming Control Manager. Mark's now the Operational Support Manager supporting the 24/7 Control Team and the Coordination Admin Team.
Mark has a 15 year career with BT as a Technical Officer, working as a field engineer in the Lancashire area. His present role within FTS is to manage and support the activities of the Control teams to ensure contractual obligations.
Job Titles:
- Supplier Performance Manager
Mick's worked in the transport industry for 26 years starting as a bus driver. Mick has unrivalled operational delivery experience of major events including the Commonwealth Games Manchester 2002, Farnborough International Airshow 2006 and 2008, London 2012 Spectator Transport and high profile music events such as Boardmasters, Leeds Festival and Parklife.
Currently Mick's responsible for all aspects of forward planning and external projects for FTS. He also overseas compliance of all operators on the FTS sub-contractors database.
Richard Kirk - Chief Commercial Officer
Richard is a transport professional with over 25 years industry experience at both National Express Group companies and First. He has unparalleled knowledge of sub-contracted provision in the bus and coach sector, along with a background in delivering day to day service delivery for major sporting events, rail replacement and dedicated executive coach services.
Richard most recently was the General Manager of First Games Transport's team that delivered Spectator, VIP and Media bus and coach services for Rugby World Cup England 2015 across the country.
He's undertaken contract mobilisations in rail replacement and aviation disruption services. Richard focused on delivering customer satisfaction balanced with supportive client and sub-contractor requirements for rail replacement.
Richard has worked on multiple events from London 2012, Glasgow 2014, ER 2015, UCLF 2017 to more recently Glasgow 2018. Alongside this event work Richard is developing our corporate and consultancy solutions with the commercial team.