President 2026

Hailing from Derby, David has always been interested in buses and coaches.  He took this a step further and graduated from the University of Wales in Swansea with a BSc in Transport Management and immediately joined Stagecoach West, as a Graduate Trainee Manager learning the various roles and requirements of running a bus company. His first year in Gloucestershire was followed by a secondment to then Scottish Executive, based in Leith, working as a Project Assistant on the Scottish concessionary fares scheme.  

After his secondment ended, David was appointed as Assistant Operations Manager for Stagecoach South, based in Worthing at a time when services were expanding following the introduction of free bus travel for over 60s.  He was then seconded back to Scotland, this time to work for the Confederation of Passenger  Transport from their Edinburgh office where he provided support dealing with the various regional transport partnerships that were being created across Scotland. A summer in Barnsley at the former Yorkshire Traction business was followed by his first substantive Operations Manager role back at Stagecoach West, this time in Swindon. 

In December 2010, he was appointed as interim manager at Scottish Citylink, based in Glasgow.  A short secondment became a full-time role for three months followed by a further three month involvement with the business whilst at the same time taking on responsibility for Gloucester and the Forest of Dean.  He then moved to a larger depot on a permanent basis, as Operations Manager for Hull at Stagecoach East Midlands.

Further promotion saw David move to the northwest of the country to take on the role as Operations Director of Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire.  He and the team there enhanced the tourist-orientated network in the central lakes area, as well as dealing with the challenges of recovering from Storm Desmond in 2015.

After 14 enjoyable years at Stagecoach, David joined Go South Coast as Operations Director in spring 2018.  Not only is David responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business, he also leads the commercial, marketing and customer services functions within the business which has grown significantly in recent years and has industry leading operational performance.

Away from the day-to-day job David is an active member of the Friends of King Alfred Buses, regularly taking part in their renowned running days and events. Recently David has joined the organising team of the Young Bus Professionals organisation bringing on the next generation of bus manager in to the industry. 

David's Presidential Address took place at The Abbey Centre in London on 24th January 2026.

David's Presidential Weekend will be held in the western part of the Go South Coast operating area from Friday 25th September to Monday 28th September 2026.