Our Stakeholders
Our stakeholders are wide-ranging. They may be divided into six groups: customers, employees, the community, investors, suppliers and local and central government. We engage with these groups in different ways, as summarised below.
Customers
Key issues
Customer service excellence, reliability, punctuality, service quality, safety, security, information and value for money.
Engagement methods
These are wide-ranging and include contact centres, customer surveys,
focus groups, ‘meet the manager’ sessions, customer forums and stakeholder events.
Employees
Key issues
Job satisfaction, fair rewards, safety, personal security, respect, equal opportunity and learning and development.
Engagement methods
One-to-one meetings with managers, site meetings, focus groups, employee opinion surveys, newsletters, emailed news updates, communications from the Chief Executive, annual conferences and team meetings.
Community
Key issues
Comprehensive and accessible services, support for community improvements, engagement and involvement.
Engagement methods
Consultation on route changes, open forums, local authority partnerships, business partnerships,
community
partnerships and
charitable events.
Investors
Key issues
Return on investment, risk management and ethical business conduct.
Engagement methods
Consultation on route changes, open forums, local authority partnerships, business partnerships,
community
partnerships and
charitable events.
Suppliers
Key issues
Ethical standards, fairness, equitable terms of engagement, effective communication and respect.
Engagement methods
Open and ongoing dialogue, review meetings and supplier relationship programme.
Government
Key issues
More sustainable travel, quality of services, performance, investment, modal shift and regulatory compliance.
Engagement methods
Regular meetings at national and local level, quality partnerships and response
to consultations.
Maintaining open and regular dialogue with all of our stakeholders is vital to our CSR strategy. The views and feedback we gather through these processes influence our business development strategy and support the growth of our business.
Our stakeholders’ expectations vary. Much of our engagement with customers and community takes place at local level. Stakeholder feedback often focuses on specific issues that may be unique to a particular area of operation and effectively dealt with by local managers.
Other issues (such as those relating to our investors and the Government) may be of wider significance and more effectively handled at Group level.
In some cases our stakeholders’ expectations conflict and we must seek to manage these challenges in an open and transparent way.