First Bus

Project Reset: repositioning First Bus for the future

While existing structures at transport company First Bus had developed incrementally over time, they did so in a sector experiencing fundamental change, driven by the expansion of franchising, increased public sector oversight and heightened expectations around service reliability, social value and financial sustainability. 

What had once worked wouldn’t work forever and, with role duplication, unclear accountability and inconsistent service and capability deployment, the company needed to be future-proofed. What emerged was championed by the judges as “an excellent initiative necessary to business transformation”. 

The Reset project, co-delivered by the people team, strategy and transformation team and key business stakeholders, began in March 2025 and led to £10m in annualised cost efficiencies through the creation of centres of expertise across the network, marketing, PR, external communications and people teams. Leadership roles were aligned to the new structure, and external talent was recruited where additional capability or different experience was required.

The people team also transformed its model, moving away from a traditional three-pillar HR structure to a “more integrated and agile” approach, enabling it to lead the Rest programme with pace. The second phase began in February 2026, with structures effective from 1 April. This focused on translating phase one into the practical redesign of regional and centralised structures in the three new business units. This phase delivered a further £2.5m of sustainable cost benefit, and consolidated the transition to a future-fit operating model.

In total, Reset delivered £12.5m in recurring cost efficiencies, while strengthening organisational capability and governance. It supported greater organisational readiness to support franchising expansion and future growth, evidenced by First Bus completing five new acquisitions across bus and coach markets and making multiple franchising bids. The company’s last colleague engagement survey score, conducted in March 2026, was up eight points on the October 2024 survey, to 66 per cent. 

Kevin Green, chief people officer at First Bus, said: “Reset has fundamentally changed how we approach organisation design at First Bus. This was not about short-term savings, but about building a structure capable of supporting franchising and accountability and driving sustained performance improvement. The financial benefits achieved reinforce the value of taking a rigorous, capability-led approach to transformation.”