28th Sep

The transport event that’s unlike any other! 

This one-day debate featured 20+ industry-leading speakers addressing topical issues and challenges in U.K. transportation. 200 senior executives from air, rail, bus, micro mobility, taxi and more joined the event!

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An unforgettable transport event…

Industry leaders across all modes of transport shared their insights on stage whilst interacting with the audience throughout the debate.

Attendees came away from this event with new contacts, new ideas and a holistic view on how we can make multi-modal transport work better across the U.K.

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The great transport debate Themes

What is transport for?
What is preventing transport from being easier to access and how can we overcome this?
What is preventing transport from being joined up and how can we join it up better?
Transport appears to be a critical crossroads, has it become less relevant and is it now purely about providing an MVP?

The great transport debate speakers

Our speakers passionately debated industry issues with each other, expressing their personal thoughts and opinions on the challenges and solutions that could be implemented nationwide.

The audience was encouraged to interact throughout: asking questions, live voting, adding their opinion and more!

Martin Jones CEO CAVU (Founders of Manchester Airport Group)
Anne Shaw OBE Executive Director Transport for West Midlands
Christian Schreyer Group Chief Executive The Go-Ahead Group
Jacqueline Starr CEO Rail Delivery Group
Nigel Stevens Chair Transport Focus
Waleed Ahmed Chief Operating Officer Transreport
Rachael Farrington Head of Government Affairs VisitBritain/VisitEngland
James Hammett Managing Director UKTram
Clive Wratten Chief Executive Business Travel Association
Graham Vidler Chief Executive Confederation of Passenger Transport
Claudette Anderson Partnerships Manager Go Jauntly
Alex Hickman Senior Managing Director Teneo
Jools Townsend Chief Executive Community Rail Network
Sam Uren Director SLC Rail
Nico Nicholas CEO Trees4Travel
Peter O'Broin Government Affairs Manager, UK & Ireland IATA
Gee Lefevre Senior Managing Director Teneo
Martin Dean Managing Director - Bus Development Go-Ahead Bus
Steve Turner Founder CMAC Group
John McArthur Co-founder Lost Group
Clare Welsh Company Director Wellman Cars
Natasha Grice Interim Customer Strategy Lead Chiltern Railways
Jake Kelly Regional Managing Director, Eastern Network Rail
& More to be announced

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What to expect

10.00-10.30

Registration and refreshments

10:30-10:40

Introduction from hosts

A welcome from your event hosts.

  • Neil Micklethwaite

    Chief Operating Officer, CMAC Group

  • Alex Warner

    Founder, AJW Experience Group

10:40-11:00
Presentation

Welcome to Manchester

Martin is CEO at CAVU. Founded by MAG (Manchester Airports Group) and backed by over 80 years of aviation expertise, CAVU strives to revolutionise airport travel, creating value for passengers and the businesses that serve them.

Prior to this role, Martin served as CEO of MAG USA. This division of MAG brought three business lines to market: car parking commercial services, P3 Airport Terminal & retail developments, and Escape Lounges (common-use airport lounges). The business scaled significantly during his tenure which was further accelerated by MAG's 2nd largest ever acquisition which he delivered. This lay the foundation for the establishment of MAG's global distribution business which, following the merger between MAG USA & MAGO, was later rebranded CAVU.

  • Martin Jones

    CEO, CAVU

11:00-11.10
Presentation

Let's start the debate

Nigel Stevens joined the Transport Focus Board as chair on 1 June 2022. He brings to the Board extensive experience in corporate governance, operational management and logistics; putting the customer first has been a consistent passion for him throughout his career.

He has held a number of senior executive roles in the transport industry including CEO of Transdev UK and Ireland and COO of UK and Ireland at Keolis Group. Prior to that, he served for almost 20 years in the logistics branch of the Royal Air Force including command of the airport and logistic wing at RAF Brize Norton and numerous operational tours in the Middle East and Kosovo. Nigel is a non-executive director of the Royal United Hospitals Trust in Bath.

  • Nigel Stevens

    Chair, Transport Focus

11:10-11.40
Presentation

A perspective from the Business Travel Association

Clive has an impressive background in the travel industry, with extensive experience in senior leadership positions at companies including Etihad Airways, HRG, Gulf Air, Qantas, and British Airways. He was appointed as Chief Executive of The Business Travel Association in 2019. Clive's leadership and contributions to the travel industry have been recognized through various awards and accolades, including being named one of the 25 Most Influential people in business travel by the BTN in 2020 and receiving the Individual excellence in approach and actions during Covid-19 award from the Business Travel People Awards.

  • Clive Wratten

    Chief Executive, Business Travel Association

11:40-12:15
Panel

How can policy makers, trade bodies and operators come together to truly provide a joined-up multi-modal proposition?

  • James Hammet

    Managing Director, UKTram

  • Jacqueline Starr

    CEO, Rail Delivery Group

  • Graham Vidler

    Chief Executive, Confederation of Passenger Transport

  • Gee Lefevre

    Senior Managing Director, Teneo

  • Clare Welsh

    Company Director, Wellman Cars

12:15-12:40
Presentation

Leading the way at Go-Ahead

Christian Schreyer is Group Chief Executive of The Go-Ahead Group, a leading UK-based public transport provider. The group employs more than 27,000 people operating bus and rail services connecting communities in six countries. In the UK, Go-Ahead’s rail operation, Govia Thameslink Railway, accounts for nearly 20% of passenger rail journeys nationally. The group is the largest operator of buses in London and outside the capital, it runs regional bus services stretching from Cornwall to Newcastle. Elsewhere in the world, the group operates buses in Singapore, Sweden and Ireland, and trains in Germany and Norway.

  • Christian Shreyer

    Group Chief Executive, The Go-Ahead Group

12.40-14.00

Street food lunch

Enjoy a choice of two tasty street food options, speak with our exhibitors and network with industry colleagues.

14:00-14:50
Panel

How do we increase social mobility by providing a proposition that is tailored to customers’ needs and where everyone works collaboratively to achieve this aim?

  • Martin Dean

    Managing Director - Bus Development, Go-Ahead Group

  • Peter O'Broin

    Government Affairs Manager, UK & Ireland, IATA

  • Claudette Anderson

    Partnerships Manager, Go Jauntly

  • Natasha Grice

    Interim Customer Strategy Lead, Chiltern Railways

14:50-15:15
Presentation

Inside number 10 from former advisor to Boris Johnson

Alex Hickman leads Teneo’s Politics practice in the UK and advises clients on strategy, regulatory, and governance issues.  Alex was formerly the Prime Minister's Special Adviser on business, leading on business engagement in the UK and around the world. In this role, Alex worked closely with the Prime Minister and ministers to support the business community during the Covid pandemic and built coalitions inside and outside government to progress the Prime Minister's business priorities, including net zero transition, science, and technology.  Alex has also led cross-party campaigns in the UK and set up the Open Europe think tank.

  • Alex Hickman

    Senior Managing Director, Teneo

15:15-16:00
Panel

How can the needs of local markets and communities be genuinely served in a model that is centralised?

  • Anne Shaw OBE

    Executive Director, Transport for West Midlands

  • Jools Townsend

    Chief Executive, Community Rail Network

  • Jake Kelly

    Regional Managing Director, Eastern at Network Rail

  • Rachael Farrington

    Head of Government Affairs at VisitBritain/VisitEngland

  • Mark Kipling

    Director, Crescar

16:00-16:50
Panel

The industry needs to create a framework that encourages innovation – what does that look like and how can we support? 

  • Sam Uren

    Director, SLC Rail

  • Steve Turner

    Founder, CMAC Group

  • Nico Nicholas

    CEO, Trees4Travel

  • John McArthur

    Co-founder, Lost Group

  • Waleed Ahmed

    Chief Operating Officer, Transreport

16:50-17:00
Presentation

Event summary and reflection

Nigel Stevens joined the Transport Focus Board as chair on 1 June 2022. He brings to the Board extensive experience in corporate governance, operational management and logistics; putting the customer first has been a consistent passion for him throughout his career.

He has held a number of senior executive roles in the transport industry including CEO of Transdev UK and Ireland and COO of UK and Ireland at Keolis Group. Prior to that, he served for almost 20 years in the logistics branch of the Royal Air Force including command of the airport and logistic wing at RAF Brize Norton and numerous operational tours in the Middle East and Kosovo. Nigel is a non-executive director of the Royal United Hospitals Trust in Bath.

  • Nigel Stevens

    Chair, Transport Focus

17:00 onwards

Bar opens

A complimentary free drink for all attendees.

It’s time to talk transport:

We feel it’s fair to say that the U.K. passenger transport industry doesn’t always get it right.

However, we believe that coming together as a collective industry we can, and we will, make transport better for customers!

This event enabled attendees to network with other senior executives from across the industry and discuss how we can make all modes of transport work better together to boost customer uptake and therefore increase sales.

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Sponsors and exhibitors

We would like to thank our sponsors for supporting our event.

Find us at Exhibition Stand A

CMAC is an established provider of managed ground transport and accommodation solutions for businesses. We supply time-critical passenger transport services for clients ranging from airlines and train operators to corporations and breakdown companies. Today, we play a vital role in transporting almost two million passengers a year.

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Find us at Exhibition Stand B

The Rail Delivery Group, a membership organisation that works on behalf of the rail industry to create a simpler, better railway for our customers. We are funded by our members who are the rail companies that make up the rail industry across Britain. Everything we do is guided by our purpose to create a simpler, better railway for our customers. ​​ To do this we provide essential services that support better customer experience, from planning your journey online to booking your seat. ​

We support the growth of the industry, running national marketing campaigns to promote the use of rail, but we also raise revenue directly through the sale of railcards. We are always looking for opportunities to make improvements to how rail operates that will bring benefits to customers. ​It’s our role to bring industry together on important issues that need a joined-up response, such as tackling sexual harassment on trains. ​ Working collaboratively with decision makers and other key industry voices, we contribute our knowledge and expertise to plans for reform so that our rail industry can thrive in the future.

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Find us at Exhibition Stand C

Transreport creates technology that improves the travel experience for all.

We believe that every journey should be accessible, comfortable and safe for all. That’s why Transreport creates innovative technologies that allow customers to have the best possible experience when travelling. From working with transport providers to help them offer the highest quality services, to simplifying accessible travel, our passion is ensuring everyone can explore the world with more ease.

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Find us at Exhibition Stand D

Community rail is a grassroots movement spanning Britain that is made up of community rail partnerships, which work along railway lines or across regions, and volunteer station ‘friends’ groups, to connect communities with their railways. There are 76 community rail partnerships and 1,200 station friends volunteer groups across Britain. Community Rail Network supports those working and volunteering in community rail and their partners. It shares best practice and connects community rail partnerships and groups together, while working with governments, the transport industry and voluntary sector to champion community rail and shares its insights on sustainable and inclusive transport.

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Find us at Exhibition Stand E

CheckedSafe was developed to provide simple and inexpensive compliance solutions that could be tailored to any industry

Together with our dedicated team of developers and client account managers, we provide comprehensive compliance services across several platforms, including for commercial and plant hire vehicles, complete fleets, and vehicles in the utilities sector. Informed by years of industry experience, the CheckedSafe system is tried and tested, and trusted by hundreds of clients nationwide

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Find us at Exhibition Stand F

We will help you achieve outstanding outcomes through third-party rail schemes.

With evidence-based rail strategies, we prioritise investment and secure funding; working with industry and other stakeholders we gain acceptance for your rail schemes; and standing by your side, we drive quality and value from initial designs to final project handover.

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Find us at Exhibition Stand G

Teneo is the global CEO advisory firm. Every leader needs a trusted team of advisors as they navigate a rapidly changing world. Companies are now judged on the total value they provide to individuals and society, rather than on financial returns alone.

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Find us at Exhibition Stand H

Crescar is a consulting and programme management company providing project delivery support and strategic advisory services to companies in the transportation, mobility and public service sectors.
The company was founded in 2020 by three partners, each of whom manages a business division. The company has business facilities and entities in the UAE, Bahrain and the UK.
Our Mission is to build long-term sustainable relationships through trust and integrity.
Crescar provides strategic advisory and project delivery services to:
• Multi-disciplinary Service Providers.
• Private Sector Transport Service Companies.
• Public sector authorities.
• Investors in transportation projects and operations.
• Infrastructure development companies.
• Multi-disciplinary consultancies

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Find us at Exhibition Stand I

1923 to 2023: TBF has been supporting public transport workers during times of need for one hundred years. This is a great milestone for this not-for-profit membership charity offering a wide range of financial, health and welfare benefits should need, hardship or distress arise. Membership costs just £1.25 a week, covering the member, their live-in partner and dependent children – that’s less than 20p a day!

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Find us at Exhibition Stand J

We are an award winning environmental ‘Tech For Good’ company working with travel brands all over the world in the business & leisure sectors providing FREE carbon management technology to calculate & help reduce emissions impact. Direct integrations into booking systems, API connectivity or through simple file uploads. Educating travellers & providing the necessary transitionary tools to get us from where we are today, to our net zero targets in the future - making travel & events ethical & sustainable.

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Find us at Exhibition Stand K

Take a closer look and you’ll see that there’s more to Metroline than getting you from A to B.

Metroline is one of London’s largest, most experienced and innovative bus operators delivering over 350 million passenger journeys each year across the capital.

Operating across North, West and Central London, we deliver services for nearly 100 Transport for London routes daily, in addition to commercial routes outside of London.

We’re proud to be part of the ComfortDelGro family, one of the largest land transport companies in the world, alongside Irish Citylink, Scottish Citylink, Megabus and Adventure Travel as ComfortDelGro’s UK businesses.

Operating across North, West and Central London, we deliver services for nearly 100 Transport for London routes daily, in addition to commercial routes outside of London. We’re proud to be part of the ComfortDelGro family, one of the largest land transport companies in the world, alongside Irish Citylink, Scottish Citylink, megabus and Adventure Travel as ComfortDelGro’s UK businesses.

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Find us at Exhibition Stand K

We are travel, mobile and payments people with a long history of successful innovative and disruptive technology and financial services businesses and a deep understanding of the airline market.

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