Apologies for the major delay in my ramblings, I know you’re sorely missing and overdue them, but unfortunately all my sources have dried up and I’ve hit my own dreaded bout of ‘slow news day’, just multiplied by a few weeks. If you do have any news nuggets, please send them my way in full confidence and/or anonymously at be*********@********il.com. I’d be awfully appreciative.
As London major Metroline gear up for taking over the big SLSCs in T3 in January, they’ve slowly been growing their team, and most of the selection processes I’ve seen in their adverts include a ’10 minute presentation’ but on what topic I haven’t the foggiest. They seem quite thorough.
Today I’ve noticed that they’ve announced their pay rates for driver trainees.
| Depot | In Training | After Training (Year 1) | Year 2 Rate |
| Wythenshawe | £11.91 | £14 | £16.37 |
| Ashton, Hyde Road, Sharston | £11.91 | £13.11 | £16 |
So, if you’re able to travel, Wythenshawe sounds ideal. I’ve no idea if licensed hires by-pass the starter year 1 rate to go directly to top rate – they do currently at incumbents Arriva and Stagecoach.
One stark difference in the advert wordings that stood out is this on Metroline: “We need you to be prepared to work varying shifts including early starts, late finishes and occasional weekends” vs. Stagecoach’s “Different shift patterns are also available so that you can fit work around your commitments” which suggests to me that you can ask for any rota.
Another difference is the trainee rate is 9p less than the current offer and I’ve no idea if their licensed hire £1,200 sign-on bonus will be retained, either. So if you are thinking of joining Ashton, Hyde Road and Sharston soon, do it now whilst they’re still ran by Stagecoach and bag yourself a nice little holiday spends bung and a rota of your choice!
View all their vacancies on their website here.
Are things really running that smoothly in Bee-world?
