Go Skills: Board strengthened by further senior Bus and Rail appointments

Go Skills

Thursday, 17, Jan 2008 12:00

Considerable industry experience has been added to the Board of GoSkills, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Passenger Transport, with the appointment of new Directors Dave Kaye, Deputy Managing Director of the First Group UK Bus Division1 and Richard Parry, Director of Strategy and Service Development for London Underground.2

Dave Kaye has worked within the passenger transport sector for almost 30 years specifically in the bus and rail industries. His role in First Group makes him responsible for Operations and Human Resources throughout the Group’s UK Bus Division. Commenting on his appointment to the GoSkills Board Mr Kaye said: "This is a tremendous opportunity and I am honoured to be invited to the GoSkills Board. Training and development is a major part of First's business principles and I look forward to contributing to the sectors skills and training objectives with industry colleagues."

Richard Parry joined London Underground in 1992 and has undertaken a number of Business Planning and Marketing roles within the organisation before taking up his current position as Director of Strategy and Service Development in 2004. “I feel privileged to be invited by GoSkills to join their Board”, said Mr Parry. “My work with London Underground gives me the opportunity to contribute to GoSkills’ mission and link our work on skills and training with the wider passenger transport sector.”

Peter Huntington, GoSkills’ Chief Executive, commented: “We are very pleased to have secured the support of two such senior figures, appointments which increase the authority of the Sector Skills Council and better equip us to meet the challenge of Leitch.”3

Dave Kaye and Richard Parry joined the GoSkills Board on 30 November 2007.

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Press enquiries please contact:

Richard Tibenham – Communications Manager - 0121 635 5530, email: richard.tibenham@goskills.org

or Fraser Tennant – Communications Executive – 0121 635 5531, email: fraser.tennant@goskills.org

For further information visit www.goskills.org

Notes to Editors:

1. Dave Kaye’s appointment as First Group’s UK Bus Division Deputy Managing Director made him one of the senior players in the transport sector. He is passionate about training and people development and in aligning operational performance with excellent customer service. He has developed award winning staff development and training programmes for all levels of the organisation. This also includes the industry leading graduate scheme.

2. As Director of Strategy and Service Development, Richard Parry’s role is to define and develop London Underground’s strategy, driving the change needed to achieve its vision whilst enabling transformation of the Underground. Richard is also responsible for understanding the needs and priorities of customers, and promoting the link with the organisation’s unique brand and heritage. Richard is accountable for the development of service and major improvement programmes, which span both capital and activity-based works.

3. The Leitch Review of Skills (December 2006) proposed a series of challenging new skills targets at lower, intermediate and management level across the economy and devised a Skills Pledge whereby employers could show their commitment to basic skills.