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Lothian Bus bosses rule out replacing Neil Renilson

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Published Date: 31 October 2008
By CHRIS MARSHALL
BUS bosses in the Capital will not appoint a replacement for their outgoing chief executive as they seek to cut costs amidst falling passenger numbers.
Neil Renilson yesterday announced his decision to retire from his position as chief executive of Transport Edinburgh Limited and Lothian Buses at the end of the year.

But Lothian Buses said today it had no plans to appoint a successor, with the "day-to-day running" of the company passing to the firm's current managing director, Ian Craig.

The retirement of Mr Renilson, who earns £250,000 a year, was confirmed at a special Lothian Buses board meeting yesterday afternoon.

The council-owned bus firm has seen passenger numbers fall as a result of delays on the city's roads caused by the tram works.

Iain Coupar, marketing director for Lothian Buses, said the decision not to appoint a new chief executive was part of measures to tackle falling revenues.

He said: "We are in a situation at the moment where our passenger numbers are down five or six per cent, and there's a loss of revenue that goes with it. We've obviously got to arrest that.

"We've already indicated a raft of changes we are bringing in to make savings. There's a whole range of things happening so that we can get the company back on track."

Council sources told the Evening News that the departure of 52-year-old Mr Renilson was a result of his growing frustration at the city council's ruling Lib Dem/SNP administration and its dealings with the bus company over the past year.

Earlier this month there was anger from commuters after botched traffic management arrangements for tram works at The Mound led to city centre gridlock.

The city council said discussions were ongoing as to who would replace Mr Renilson. Transport Edinburgh Limited will eventually run both buses and trams in the city.

But the council's chief executive, Tom Aitchison, paid tribute to the work carried out by Mr Renilson in his decade at the helm of Lothian Buses.

Mr Aitchison said: "I was involved in the appointment of Neil ten years ago and knew then that we had appointed someone very special. Neil has driven the company forward and under his leadership it has achieved impressive results."

City council leader Jenny Dawe said: "Neil has been instrumental in making the Capital's bus service the best in the UK, which has been acknowledged in countless awards."


Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 31 October 2008 1:05 PM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Lothian Buses
 
1

alex paterson,

edinburgh 31/10/2008 12:01:41
Does this mean his position was not needed at £250,000 a year,more money wasted.
2

Way Out West,

31/10/2008 12:05:14
Yes, Lothian Buses has gone far under Neil Renilson.

Maintenance cut back; towing contracted out; dead buses left in the street for hours until they can be towed away; chronic traffic congestion due to over-bussing; services cut back; buses and depots rented instead of owned; Circle routes ditched; buses painted in colours more associated with clowns - I could go on and on.

Enjoy your !award-winning bus company" while it lasts, folks, 'cause it ain't gonna be around for much longer!
3

Snails dont like curry and chips,

Edinburgh 31/10/2008 12:07:44
You have to laugh at a council employee earning £250k a year - plus a magnificent pension - plus all expenses paid etc. I think they should definitely replace him - where do I send my cv?
4

Statsman,

Edinburgh 31/10/2008 12:09:08
Skint due to trams.
5

David Harrington,

Edinburgh 31/10/2008 12:10:54
#2 What about increased service frequencies and new routes? It sounds like you just have an axe to grind.
6

,

31/10/2008 12:25:48
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
7

Way Out West,

31/10/2008 12:31:28
#5 - new routes, yes.

But look at the parts of the city which have recently lost their bus service, and then at the recent service cuts - which are to the first of many.

I personally saw a dead bus sitting in Princes Street a few years ago, which had gone "phut" during the morning rush hour. It took a full six hours before McPhies arrived to tow it away. In LRT days a tow-wagon would have promptly been despatched to take it down to the works for repair.

Put it this way, the First management must now be peeing themselves laughing, watching Lothian Buses disintegrate before their very eyes.

I'd be VERY surprised if Lothian Buses in its present form is still around come 2011.
8

Steven P,

edinburgh 31/10/2008 12:35:19
So now the true story.
Lothian Buses have been paying Renilson £250 000 per annum (plus pension contributions) for a role that doesnt actually exist.
Nose in the trough charges have proved accurate then.
How many other freeloaders on the Board of Directors payroll -
do I hear Pilmar Smith?

9

Padraig,

31/10/2008 12:40:15
Interesting that Labour's tram vanity project is likely to wreck Edinburgh's totally adequate bus company - just as at WestminsterLabour's spending during the good times wrecked our ability to work our way through the recession - and their "bringing expenditure forward" to spend their way out of trouble will impose huge taxes on us all when the time comes (after the election next Spring) to repay all these loans!

Even when they have gone, they will be wrecking the country!

Will we never be rid of Labour?
10

I love to eat Sellotape,

31/10/2008 12:44:38
Perhaps Mr Renilson was handicapped by that moustache.
11

Scotish Exile,

31/10/2008 12:47:13
I would gladly sport a moustache and wear that jacket for £250,000 a year!
12

Arrow,

edinburgh 31/10/2008 12:47:42
i was crossing the road at the Shandwick place/Manor Road junction this morning c 9.30 and marveled at the 4 buses in a row that crossed into the yellow box (you know; do not enter unless your exit is clear) stopped in the box and blocked off the junction. i counted the number of passengers in the 4 double decker buses and plus the drivers and there were 10. what really pi**ed me off was that the drivers closed up and not even a pedestrian could get between the buses at the pedestrian conrolled crossing and one of the drivers was reading his morning newspaper.
13

Franky McNostril,

Annandale Street 31/10/2008 12:55:35
Will anyone notice that Neil "Bob Carolgees" Renilson has left?
14

Linmal,

Livingston 31/10/2008 13:05:02
Must mean he's either irreplaceable or surplus to requirements. I know which one I would go for!
15

Bob 2,

31/10/2008 13:05:36
8 Way Out West,31/10/2008 12:31:28
#5 - new routes, yes.

But look at the parts of the city which have recently lost their bus service, and then at the recent service cuts - which are to the first of many.

Way out west , hold on, The Current Cuts are due to the delays caused in the main by the TRAMWORKS and various other Roadworks.

This has caused buses to be running up to 50mins late, this along with dropping passengers numbers caused by the above, have resulted in an sudden drop in income.

Like any business, cash flow keeps its going, so due to the above, services have had to be cut/reduced.


Yip FIRST management must be laughing all the way.
FIRST (inc their GRT days) tried to muscle in on Edinburghs bus lucrative bus routes and failed twice?

Yet along comes the TRAM project and succeeds were FIRST failed, running LB into the ground.
16

Way Out West,

31/10/2008 13:33:46
#16

But shouldn't they have had plans in place for the tram works? It's not as if they happened overnight - they had SEVERAL YEARS to plan for this. The recent cuts were a knee-jerk reaction to the problems.

Of course, LB don't have their allies on the council to help them out anymore either!
17

Craigie Boy,

Carluke (ex Edinburgh) 31/10/2008 13:43:45
All over the UK, bus companies have succumbed, eventually, to the unstoppable power of First Group. Edinburgh is almost unique amomgst the big cities with a bus company which is still part council owned. This won't last forever. First will be watching LB right now - it's just a question of picking their time. I, too, will be very surprised if LB exists in it's current form 5 years from now.
18

Big bob 79,

31/10/2008 13:54:40
#14
I am sure poor Spit The Dog is very upset LOL
19

I love to eat Sellotape,

31/10/2008 14:01:22
I mean, well, let's face it. These people, you know, it's ... it's ... not like they're terrorists or anything. Because, when you think, like, I mean ... does it really matter, or whatever, if they're ... oh never mind.
20

Icebreaker,

newbridge 31/10/2008 14:04:49
Whingers,you should try Glasgow's buses.You'll then not take Lothians Buses for granted.
21

,

31/10/2008 14:34:14
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
22

Big bob 79,

31/10/2008 15:57:01
Normally you get get a gold watch or clock when your retire, I think Lothian should get Neil R. a Golden Pram, it will serve two purposes:-
1. Enrage the protesting mums outside Cenrtal garage
2. Help him wheel away the bundles of cash he will get in payouts from his 250K job
Mind you it will have to be a folding buggie if not he will have to push it all the way home

23

Bob 2,

31/10/2008 16:31:47
17 Way Out West, 31/10/2008 13:33:46

if you have been following the Tram Project, you'll find that there was no mention of CLOSING OFF major roads or roads junctions for months on end.

Original Talk was of a maximum of 7 x200m stretches.

Lothian Buses are a BUS COMPANY believe it or NOT.

The City Council has "overall responsibility" for the roads and diversions.

Take the Mound closure "Everything was in place", the experts at the Council had calculated that it would work.

result STANDSTILL.


Then TIE themselves, the other week, decided to start painting a "Box Junction" at Leith walk/London road.

Now when would you do this

a) during the night, when it was quiet
or
b) during the day.

the answer is B and the result was traffic queued down LEITH WALK onto Great Junction Street.

On top of this , The Council has "planned" roadworks on almost every major road at the same time.

Portobello Roundabout is one example
On top of this gas and water Utilities has have joined in.

Result Buses delayed and 20/30 mins added to bus journeys.

The overall result has seen a drop in Passenger Numbers and Income.

So something had to go and that was border line routes.
24

Road Raga,

EDINBURGH 31/10/2008 17:22:21
#24 - you remind me of a mate of mine who is convinced that George W Bush is a reptile from outer space, here to take over the world.

Your great big Council conspiracy theory is a tad less believable though.
25

big man,

Edinburgh 31/10/2008 17:25:09
As a serving Bus Driver with LB, i for one cannot understand Edinburgh Council, in the way they have handled all the chaos re the trams, am sorry to say, why didn't you "Burghers of Edinburgh", give the people of Edinburgh a referendum on the trams so whereby people could vote if they wanted the trams or not, you did it with the congestion charge and got voted out on that one, am sure the trams would have been the same OUT WITH THE TRAMS, for all my years as a bus driver i have never known this company to be in the red, even when NR arrived he did something right, there again it didn't please all the Edinburgh public ( you never will) but under the present circumstances we as drivers do our best and some members of the travelling public do appreciate this, but to some you always get the same questions "where you been", it's not our fault, go to your local council and kick up a fuss with them, but dont vent your anger at as bus drivers, were doing a job to the best of our ability.
26

Way Out West,

31/10/2008 17:39:25
#23 Big Bob

That has to the the post of the week!
27

GarryB,

Dunbar 31/10/2008 19:15:18
Could someone say just how much extra revenue, over and above the cost of non-standard paint and vinyl, the toytown-patterned buses have generated? Not that the route-branded ones always stick to the intended routes, of course.

There's no way Renilson was worth the money, the whole episode is reminiscent of John £indsay's "redundancy" from East Lothian cooncil a year or two back.
28

Bob 2,

31/10/2008 19:59:14
25 Road Raga, EDINBURGH 31/10/2008 17:22:21

think you'll find a reptile from outer space has something between his ears.

Do you remember 9/11 footage, when bush was told a plane had hit one of the trade towers - definitely nothing between the ears.

Your great big Council conspiracy theory is a tad less believable though.

Suppose your right on the Roadworks, that would take planning, skills and some intelligence which the roads lot at the council dont have.

Another example of there incompetence , is when TIE shut of the mound, at the same time the Council had planned to resurface the canongate.

Talk about coordination !

Apparently the roads lot or TIE weren't speaking to each other !!

ps well said BIG MAN
29

Pond Hall,

sunny east lothian 31/10/2008 20:34:35
28 GarryB, Dunbar 31/10/2008 19:15:18

There's no way Renilson was worth the money, the whole episode is reminiscent of John £indsay's "redundancy" from East Lothian cooncil a year or two back.

Is there any comparison with John Lindsay, do not think so

what did JL ever do for us in East Lothian.

Road & Pavements in a Total disrepair
Council Tax up, god knows how much since 1996
The PPP High School rebuild that went pear shape.
Services Cut
Prices Up

yes he did a lot.

LB have at least kept the fares down in the Parts of East Lothian that they operate in, along with New buses, the majority are less than 4 years old (26/44 services).

Compare that to FIRST, they haven't bought a new buses for their East Lothian services for at least 10 years.

Some 22 years since deregulation came to East Lothian in May 86, the Fare from Seton Sands to the West end was £1 at the time .
I can still travel on a Lothian Bus, well for £1, from Setons sands to the west end (using either a city single)


The painted LB buses at least brighten things up, the one that I can't understand is the Ace of Spades on the 31 route!
30

craig7653,

Port Seton 31/10/2008 21:15:30
All you moaning bus users won't realise how good your services are, and how good Lothian Buses are until they are gone. If it gets sold off your flat fare and cheap rider cards will be gone. Just imagine £1.60 to travel 3 stops and £4 to travel from Princes street to Musselburgh. Thats what will happen. I went on a bus in Leeds last week, i bought a day ticket which cost £6.40. Lothian Buses you are doing a great job in very very bad circumstances.
31

Mr N Cider,

Edinburgh 01/11/2008 00:12:59
If you ask me Renilson should be given an MBE.

Business increased by 40% in a decade, hardly a bus in the fleet older than 10 years, ANY JOURNEY for £1.10, numerous awards for best bus company, record profits, major refurbishments to at least 2 of the garages, employees on more money than their opposite numbers in other firms, better working conditions than i have seen anywhere in the motor trade. Need i go on?

To do all this and more in a decade i'm certain he would be the first man in the office in the morning and the last to leave.

Incidentally, for those of you who like to bang on about him having his "nose in the trough", it is worth noting that after tax on a salary like that he is likely to see no more than about 60% of the 250000.

#11 - perhaps he just doesnt eat selotape?

Its interesting that a man who is clearly intelligent and very good at what he does, who turned Lothian Buses into the best bus company in the country, can be on the recieving end of such unfounded speculation and scorn. For those of you who have something negative to say about him i suggest you watch LB carefully over the next decade, you can be certain that the next 10 years will be nothing like as succesful as the last 10.



32

bluehead,

edinburgh 01/11/2008 09:27:31
the real reason is probably because nobody would want to take the job,because as everybody knows the whole idea is insane,there are few people who would want to be associated with such a project that causes the throwing away of millions of pounds that could have been used for other things.
33

Thomas the Tank,

Edinburgh 01/11/2008 09:55:24
#31 and others - don't think many people are suggesting that Lothian Buses are anything but excellent and that Renilson (despite occasional lack of 'personality skills'!)has done a pretty good job. But the services have been decimated by the shambolic tramworks and will be devastated (look up the difference, EN sub-editors) by what is to come. That's why Renilson has gone - he can't bear to preside over the deliberate wrecking of his professional achievements to deliver a useless vanity-project for a few, now mostly ex-, cooncillors.
34

Wullie Smith ,

Embra 01/11/2008 10:45:11
Try using buses in Glasgow or Aberdeen , then try to find something to criticise Lothian about - you'll be hard pressed to find anything where Lothian dont come out on top .
35

Brad,

Glasgow 03/11/2008 13:56:00
#32, #35, yes. you're right. Just serial-whingers on this site though. Wonder what their contribution to society is?

 

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