Southampton
Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd October 2025
Bookings for the conference are closed. The conference hotel is full. If you are still looking for accommodation, there is an Ibis next door and an Ibis Budget across the car park.
Our autumn conference takes place in Southampton on Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd October and will remain the usual format with the optional site visit on Wednesday afternoon, dinner in the evening, and conference sessions on Thursday.
There’s an expanded programme of speakers including:
Matt Carney, CEO Bus at Go-Ahead Group
Paul Clifton, Transport Journalist
Joel Mitchell, MD Stagecoach South East
Katy Taylor, CEO of Wightlink Ferries
Richard Tyldsley, General Manager
at Bluestar
Paul Walker, Head of Passenger Transport at Portsmouth City Council
YBP Delegates: Isobel Hedley-Jones, Fastrack and Richard Windley, Reading Buses
The optional site visit will be to Hants and Dorset Trim, possibly the industry’s leading bus refurbishment and repair company. For more than 50 years, the company has worked on giving new life to a range of buses, as well as restoring historic vehicles in museum collections.
On Wednesday evening our after-dinner speaker will be Matt Carney, CEO Bus at Go-Ahead Group. Matt took up this role two years ago having previously Managing Director (Australia) at Kinetic, the largest bus operator in Australia and New Zealand, where he played a key role in growing the company from a single airport transfer business to one of the region’s most respected mass transit operators.
There’s a wide range of interesting speakers booked for Thursday, kicking off with Paul Walker, Head of Passenger Transport at Portsmouth City Council, who will tell us about The Politics of Buses in the South. With contracted services coming to some of our major conurbations, it’s more important than ever to maintain a good relationship with your local authority. In Portsmouth, the local authority chose what is a very successful enhanced partnership with all the local bus operators.
Bluestar is the area’s major bus operator, running services in and around Southampton. It also runs the highly successful Unilink network, which is primarily to take University of Southampton staff and students between teaching sites and halls of residence, but services are open for anyone to use. Richard Tyldsley is General Manager at Bluestar and will be giving us The Bluestar Story.
We’ll also hear from transport journalist Paul Clifton, who stepped down earlier this year after 38 years as a BBC transport correspondent. Paul is a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and of the Institution of Highways & Transportation, and is a Chartered Geographer. He’s reported on numerous bus stories over the years and will be giving us his view of the bus industry.
At each conference we hear from a couple of our YPB delegates. This time Richard Windley from Reading Buses and Isobel Hedley-Jones from Fastrack will be telling us about their careers to date and the organisations where they work.
There are times when it’s important to manage public perceptions in a business, something that Wightlink Ferries CEO Katy Taylor knows a lot about. Formerly Chief Customer Officer at Southern Water, Katy was previously Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at Go-Ahead Group, so she’ll be bringing that wealth of experience to the conference.
Rounding off the day will be Joel Mitchell, Managing Director of Stagecoach South East. The company has been doing some innovative partnership work with local authorities responsible for parking enforcement to target hotspots that make it difficult for buses to negotiate particular roads and bus stops, which have previously led to delays and additional congestion. They’re also working with road authorities and utility companies about street works that will affect services. Joel will tell us more.
The full programme is available here.
Timing
Conference registration and buffet lunch runs from 1230 until 1400 on Wednesday, followed by the optional site visit departing at 1400. Dinner will begin at 1900. The conference ends at 1500 on Thursday.
Cost
Residential – includes arrival light lunch, dinner, accommodation in a bedroom for single occupancy and breakfast in addition to the conference sessions, lunch and refreshments: Early bird price until 29th
August £363 +VAT. Full price from 30th August £416 +VAT.
Non-residential – includes arrival light lunch, dinner, the conference sessions, lunch and refreshments, but excludes accommodation and breakfast: Early bird price until 29th August £210 +VAT. Full price from
30th August £248 +VAT.
About the conference venue
The conference will be held at the Novotel Southampton, 1 West Quay Road, Southampton, SO15 1RA. Telephone 023 8107 2800. The hotel has a small pool, gym and sauna available to hotel guests. The leisure club is open from 0600-2200.
How to get to the Novotel Southampton
By Train
The hotel is four minutes walk from Southampton Central railway station. From the platforms, follow the signs for Way out and Buses. The exit is beside platform 4a. *From the station exit, walk straight ahead and cross the access
to the front of the station to the right between the bus shelters. Turn immediately right at the road and you’ll see that the path forks left (past the taxi rank) and to the right. You can take either path. When you reach the traffic
lights you’ll be able to see the end of the Novotel, which is the two tone brown building across the junction. Cross the single slip road, then turn left and cross to the island in the centre of the dual carriageway. Cross the filter
lane to the small island and cross the other side of the dual carriageway to the bigger island. You’ll see the word Novotel written vertically on the building just ahead of you. Cross the final filter lane and take the left fork
of the footpath and follow it down to the front of the hotel.
By Express Coach
FlixBus coaches stop at Southampton Central station. Follow the instructions above from *.
National Express coaches stop at Southampton Coach Station, which is less than 10 minutes walk from the Novotel. Google maps will take you on a longer route. This route is shorter. From the
coach, turn right out of the exit onto Harbour Parade (where the vehicle drove in) and turn right. At the roundabout, cross the road towards the retail park straight ahead and turn right at the pavement. Follow the footpath around
the edge of the retail park with shops on your left and the road on your right. When you reach the roundabout, cross the road to your right and you’ll see the Novotel ahead behind TGI Fridays. Walk straight ahead to the hotel.
By Air
he nearest airport is Southampton. Trains run five times an hour to Southampton Central station in around seven to ten minutes. Follow the instructions above from *.
By Car
here is parking at the Novotel at a cost of £12 per night.
Dinner menu
Starter
Roasted Autumn vegetable soup (gluten free, vegan)
Main
Seared chicken breast, dauphinoise potatoes, roasted baby leeks and carrots smeared with a café au lait sauce (gluten free)
Dessert
Caramelised biscuit cheesecake (can be gluten free and vegan if pre-ordered)
Tea and coffee
Updated 26/09/25