To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we've invited women from across the transport sector to share their stories and career paths to inspire the next generation. Here's Sarah Boyd on her journey from a Stagecoach depot in Manchester to becoming Managing Director of Lothian Buses.
“I’ve been in the industry now for almost 23 years. I think the representation of women has really changed in that time, and Women in Transport plays a huge part in that. It’s a brilliant industry to work in as a woman, but I think actually at the moment that’s still not widely recognised. And I think the work that Women in Transport have achieved is superb, and I really look forward to seeing how this starts to pick up pace.”
Video transcript
“Hello, I’m Sarah Boyd. I’m Managing Director for Lothian Buses.
“I want to start today by saying congratulations to Women in Transport on reaching their 20-year anniversary. What an incredible achievement.
“My career in transport began in 2002. I was at university at the time. I was studying to do a degree in Maths and Finance, and I didn’t have any plans to work in public transport. But along came the Stagecoach Graduate Scheme advert, and something immediately attracted me to it.
“I was fortunate enough to go through a series of interviews, including an assessment centre which I guess just, I don’t know, opened up my mind to the possibilities. Very quickly I realised that it was a world of people. It wasn’t actually the transport bit that gripped me initially. It was the fact that it was going to be a chance to work with so many different people and just have so many different experiences around that.
“My journey from that point onwards has been through the operational side of the business to begin with and for the majority of my career. So I started beyond the graduate scheme itself in a depot in Manchester. I had at that point a boss, she was the Operations Director, and she was a huge influence on me. Took a big chance, I guess, to give me my first role as a Depot Manager at a time where Stagecoach was very much ‘if you're good enough, you’re old enough’.
“And so I relished the opportunity. It was a brilliant, brilliant time in my career. I loved working in Manchester, being fortunate to work with some of the Stagecoach greats, I would say, so lots of people over my time - I then went on to do 11 years with Stagecoach - lots of people who really took time, who really cared about developing others and getting me to the point where I could then start to do that with other people as well. I think, yeah, as a reflection it was a brilliant time in my career.
“Lothian was probably the only organisation that I would have left Stagecoach for. I felt very loyal back in 2013. I didn't have any real intention to leave Stagecoach, and then the job of Head of Operations came up at Lothian, and yeah straight away I was interested.
“It was probably one of the few companies I would have been prepared to leave for, and what a great chance that I felt I couldn’t let just go by. And so whilst I’d been a Director at Stagecoach - Operations Director for seven years by that time - there were then, I guess quite understandably, people saying ‘Well, is that not a step back to go and be a Head of Operations?’
“Actually, for me it was the opportunity to get into a brilliant company, to really get to grips with the technical side of the operations part of the business, before then hopefully progressing again, which is something I've then gone on to do.
“And my journey through Lothian has then been as Head of Operations, and then as Ops Director for four years, and then for the last three I’ve been the company’s Managing Director. And it’s a huge privilege to lead such a great team of people and to deliver such a brilliant service.
“I’ve been in the industry now for almost 23 years. I think the representation of women has really changed in that time, and Women in Transport plays a huge part in that, I would say. It’s a brilliant industry to work in as a woman, but I think actually at the moment that’s still not widely recognised. And I think the work that Women in Transport have achieved is superb, and I really look forward to seeing how this starts to pick up pace. I think there’s a brilliant, brilliant place for women to work.”