TravelMaster is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Fowles OBE as its new Independent Chairperson, following the resignation of Tim Bilby from Stagecoach Supertram.
Mark formerly held the position of Managing Director at Nottingham City Transport (NCT) for twenty years until April 2021 helping it to transform from a loss-making municipal bus company with a poor reputation, and transform it into a thriving beacon of public transport.
Along with Mark’s achievements at NCT including winning UK Bus Operator of the Year five times by putting customers as the companies main focus, Mark is a passionate fundraiser. Together with his family he is working in partnership with a charitable body at the Sheffield Hallamshire Hospital to raise funds for research into Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). This is a highly complex muscle wasting disease and is a condition Mark’s daughter, Kate, suffers from. In lieu of a fee paid to Mark, TravelMaster will be making a donation to the fund for this essential research.
John Henshall, General Manager released the statement saying “TravelMaster would like to thank Tim for his five year tenure as TravelMaster Chairperson. In that time TravelMaster has experienced significant changes from the impact of covid and national transport policies covering bus fares. His leadership and guidance has been a real asset and as Tim has also stepped down as the Managing Director of Supertram we wish him the all the best for the future.
We are extremely excited that Mark agreed to join TravelMaster as our newly appointed Independent Chairperson. When the position became vacant the Board decided that to further continue TravelMaster’s work the best course of action was to appoint an external Independent Chairperson and we were thrilled with the level of interest in and calibre of applicants for the post.
Having Mark as Chairperson brings a new range of benefits to TravelMaster, and his customer first approach closely aligns with the transformations we have been making at TravelMaster since my own appointment. I’m looking forward to working with Mark alongside the rest of the Board to continue provide good value, easy to understand and use tickets for passengers across South Yorkshire.”
With Mark’s input at the Board, TravelMaster will be looking for improvements to the TravelMaster App released in June 2023. The app is becoming the most popular way for customers to buy tickets in advance and load them to their smartcards with over 13,000 users and numbers continuing to grow. The App requires compatible smartphones and uses the same technology as Apple Pay and Google Pay to load tickets to smartcards. Weekly tickets purchased in advance, including via the app, continue to be cheaper than when bought on board.
Mark Fowles OBE – photo courtesy of Nottingham City Transport