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[Tony]

Obviously,your example of Stagecoach/First in Barnstaple is correct,but have you ever considered the reverse argument?
If First were to have taken over Stagecoach in Barnstaple it is still unlikely that they would have been able to create a profitable operation.The philosophy of Firstgroup seems to be flawed throughout.......local control and decision making is an alien concept to First,even this new livery (if it justifies the description) is being imposed on all subsidiaries.
How much more pride would be generated in local companies if they were allowed freedom  of choice in even this small area.National liveries are great when a company is perceived to be a success but when one part is let down,the whole Company suffers.
First would likely be a great operator in say Russia.

Totally agree. Need local management and not say in Chelmsford for the WM business. MRW should have its own livery and buying policy and should focus on boosting business as opposed to cutting costs. And yes, I agree with you-first would have been great in the USSR!!!

While I agree a lot of decision making should be local, livery and buying policy would make no difference to MRW. A lot of people don't know or care what the colour for buses in in the rest of the country, and to them 'barbie' is the local livery as that is what colour their buses are, if they head North (NXWM), they are Red & White, East they are Stagecoach swoops, and North West they are an unusual shade of green (Arriva).

As for buying police, if you don't buy any new buses for 7 years a new vehicle policy is pointless! Even if new buses were to arrive a big group gets a much better price on bulk purchases so a one off order for a few buses each year would only increase costs against allocating a few buses from a big group order spread around the country.

This is not in defence of First at all I think they are by far the worst of the big groups, but new vehicle types and liveries are the least of MRW's problems

[arrifirststage]

Again I agree with all your comments but........for almost 20 years my Brother was MD for Midland Red West from the split of Midland Red,through the Badgerline era and into the First takeover.
Originally taking over around 180 buses,the fleet grew to around 250 (admittedly with an influx of Minis) and the Company was very well perceived in it's area.
Staff morale,while never perfect,was helped by face to face meetings with a management who had some influence over their own destiny.
Enter First........most major decisions were now made in Aberdeen,with even the senior managers at local Companies (certainly at MR West) having very little input.Having thus destroyed morale and more importantly initiative among Senior men,is it any wonder that this was transmitted down the line to drivers,fitters etc?
Attitudes of indifference thus became the norm,causing the travelling public to be relegated to mere inconveniences.
I can only reveal that my Brother,and I am sure many other senior First local managers,were eager to take retirement or to leave for other jobs ASAP with First thus losing many ,many years of experience.
One other point......Companies seem to do better with traffic men in major positions rather than engineers.

[andy]

Again I agree with all your comments but........for almost 20 years my Brother was MD for Midland Red West from the split of Midland Red,through the Badgerline era and into the First takeover.
Originally taking over around 180 buses,the fleet grew to around 250 (admittedly with an influx of Minis) and the Company was very well perceived in it's area.
Staff morale,while never perfect,was helped by face to face meetings with a management who had some influence over their own destiny.
Enter First........most major decisions were now made in Aberdeen,with even the senior managers at local Companies (certainly at MR West) having very little input.Having thus destroyed morale and more importantly initiative among Senior men,is it any wonder that this was transmitted down the line to drivers,fitters etc?
Attitudes of indifference thus became the norm,causing the travelling public to be relegated to mere inconveniences.
I can only reveal that my Brother,and I am sure many other senior First local managers,were eager to take retirement or to leave for other jobs ASAP with First thus losing many ,many years of experience.
One other point......Companies seem to do better with traffic men in major positions rather than engineers.

I can sympathise with your assessment of how a good, well run and autonomous business can dissolve into that, I have experienced a similar scenario with one of my employers (not a bus operator). It can happen remarkably quickly aswell.

I remember being jealous of MRW when I was at MRN and we ended up with Drawlane and MRW got Badgerline. They seemed much more like bus people yet the business still appeared to be lucrative and profitable. The problem with organisations like First is that they view operations as 'corridors' and don't much bother about joining things up or having a network or identity. It's all about the corridor being profitable or not. If it isn't, it goes, no thought of trying to invest in it to build it up. Very balance sheet orientated and this doesn't work in an area where you are the predominant operator.

I worked under Badgerline briefly when they acquired Frontline. Everybody in the company I came into contact with seemed professional, competent and knowledgable and resources were good. Decisions could be made easily and effectively and they were good to work for. I would imagine things changed very quickly with First.