Go North West launches Bolton recruitment drive

Buses in Bolton will come under public control this autumn, with a network operated by Go North West to be part of Greater Manchester's Bee Network.

Go North West, a part of The Go-Ahead Group, plans to hire up to 300 drivers for a newly created Elite Bus Driver Academy.

The successful applicants will operate routes in Bolton and Wigan, earning upwards of £28,000.

Themed as ‘Be an Elite Driver’, the campaign uses fighter pilot style uniforms and imagery, and makes existing drivers the star of the show.

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Images of eight drivers will be emblazoned across a fleet of buses – bringing to life the prestige of being a driver, and the careers on offer.

As part of the recruitment, applicants will be urged to become ‘the best of the best’, to find the thing that will make them awesome and to brace themselves for a career with ‘wheels…that you’ll steer’. 

They will undertake an intensive six-week training programme, open both to existing bus driver licence holders and to those who have never sat behind the wheel of a bus before.

Go North West will also be offering longer term apprenticeships combining studying with hands-on driving, allowing people to earn while they learn.

The drivers will operate yellow Bee Network buses in Bolton and Wigan from September – the first two areas to be franchised under Transport for Greater Manchester’s new vision for local buses.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, has set out a vision of an integrated London-style transport system bringing together buses, trams, rail, cycling and walking. In an initial step towards this, Go North West was selected by TfGM in late 2022 as the winner of its first two bus contracts.

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Nigel Featham, Managing Director, Go North West, said: “This is a ground-breaking recruitment campaign to match the huge scale of change that we’ll be helping to deliver in Greater Manchester's public transport. We’ve already had lots of interest in driving the new Bee Network buses and we’re expecting thousands of applications.

Recruitment campaign (Image: GNW)

“We’re very proud to be pioneers in delivering these bus services for Greater Manchester"

Once the new contracts are underway, Go North West will operate more than 500 buses from Bolton, Wigan and from its existing Queen’s Road depot in central Manchester.

And the company’s facility in Bolton will be the largest UK bus depot outside London.

If you are interested in a career as a bus driver, head down to Victoria Square on Thursday May 25.

Bus driver jobs include 20 days’ annual holiday, generous pensions and pay rates that quickly increase with experience. To apply or find out more about becoming a bus driver click here.