The Academy by Transdev
We took a long, hard look at not just how we and the bus sector approached recruitment and training, but also those organisations representing the very best in retail, colleague development and customer service.
The Academy by Transdev is the result: a series of highly appointed centres, based across the north of England, to give new recruits the best first impression we can, alongside the latest in modern facilities to help all our colleagues in their ongoing development with us.
Everyone who joins Transdev, no matter what their new role will be, begins their journey with us at The Academy. For drivers, it’s the beginning of a 4 to 6-week course alongside other trainees. We’ll fund your comprehensive training programme, and by the end of it you’ll have a nationally-recognised qualification.
And your learning takes place in some of our industry’s very best facilities. We have invested in an all-new training centre at our Queensgate depot in Burnley, and a complete renovation of training areas, driver welfare spaces and offices at our Starbeck depot in Harrogate, with plans in place to go further at our other locations very shortly. It’s all about creating a bright, modern and welcoming environment, optimal use of technology and run by the friendliest trainers in the business - which all helps our people to understand what we are trying to achieve as a business and helps them deliver the best in customer service.
Great facilities and amazing people deliver outstanding results. The first-time pass rate for our trainees is 96 percent.
What to expect at The Academy
Meet Dale French. Dale’s our Training Manager, looking after our Academy centres and our new colleagues who pass through them every single month.
Dale started with us as a driver at our York depot, and went on to be named Driver of the Year at our own company-wide Transdev Amazing Awards – and runner-up in the national UK Bus Awards. Dale was one of the first to complete Transdev’s unique StepUp people development programme – another way we support our brightest new talents on their journey to success.
“On Day One with us at The Academy, all our trainees begin by finding out more about who we are – with an introduction to Transdev worldwide, and why we are Pride of the North.
“Then, it’s on to experience things through the eyes of a customer – that means starting from a random location, often a short distance away from one of our bus stops, and then using our Transdev Go app to find the way to join our bus services and navigate the way back to the Academy. This brings them into contact with our teams and customers on the road, demonstrating our customer service in a real-world setting.
“Day Two is much more focused on our driver recruits – we look at a typical day in the life of one of our drivers. Our trainees learn about running boards, rotas, duty timesheets, how to fill out an incident report, and how to carry out a walkaround safety check before taking a bus onto the road – while we also cover ticket machines and other on-bus equipment – basically everything a driver needs to know to carry out their role safely. And through it all, the customer is at the heart of it – that’s why we use roleplay to show how we interact with our customers to deliver outstanding, caring service.
“Each day, we discuss with our trainees what they’ve learned and why it’s important. And when their training on the road is complete and they become a fully qualified driver, we don’t stop there. One of our team of trained mentors will be on hand to provide guidance on route learning, vehicle familiarisation and to help with any questions.
“I love seeing people succeed in their chosen career with our support – it gives you a real buzz when you see them do well. We look after over 120 trainees a year at each of our Academy centres … and just like our recruitment posters say, it could be you.”
Stylish and practical buses
The Academy needs smart buses to make learning a pleasure too. Each of The Academy buses reflects the new-look approach to training, and even features our stars within our company from our most recent Amazing Awards and Transdev Honours winners.
The new buses are the longest in the company’s fleet at 12 metres long. It means we can train new drivers about judging distance and space right from the very start. Each bus also allows easy remote learning, with facilities on board to allow easy, on-the-road training and demonstrations.
And they look the part too – a bus we can proudly take our new trainees on that’s fitting with the standards we go on to teach.
The new recruits’ view
Don’t just take our word for it. Let’s hand over to one of our most recent recruits in Harrogate, Brandon Hopper
"I was part of the December driving school, and have currently completed all parts of my training except for the last driving test. I really enjoyed my time training - the facilities are top-notch with dedicated Academy buses and new training rooms that are really modern and great to learn in. I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in driving or starting a new career, just go into it with an open mind and ready to learn, and you’ll love it."
Taking driver CPC online
The driverCPC is critical for our drivers. It ensures that they are equipped with the latest skills and knowledge to look after our customers. We cover a whole range of areas including customer service skills, driving hours, dementia awareness, current driving tests standards, GreenRoad telematics training and much more.
These are usually delivered in person in The Academy centres. It is the law that all drivers must have 35 hours of training every 5 years and, due to the recent social distancing restrictions, we demonstrated our flexibility by introducing online, collaborative learning - becoming one of the first in the industry to do so, all ensuring our colleagues don’t miss a beat.
Would you like to join us in The Academy and receive one of the best training experiences around? See our latest job vacancies here.