In this conversation, Stuart Cunningham, Business Development Director for our Transport Sector, shares his perspective on how a people-focused approach has helped us deliver the best service for commuters. He speaks about how Bidvest Noonan’s cleaning and security solutions have supported more than 1.5 billion journeys each year.
Tell us about your journey toward becoming a Business Development Director for our Transport Sector business unit
It is my 15-year anniversary working in soft services in the Transport Sector. Since 2007, I have always worked in sales roles for cleaning solutions within rail, tram, bus, coach, and aviation. I still love what I do, the people I work with and the great positive impact that we can deliver. I even find myself liking the challenges and obstacles that the cleaning industry throws up.
Our Transport Sector business unit delivers services to the UK’s largest bus and rail operators. What makes Bidvest Noonan a great partner for them?
We have our Credo and Vision embedded in our culture and in everything we do. Our people and our customer-focused dedicated approach helps us to deliver the best service on the market.
Our deep expertise in the Transport Sector enables us to present innovative and creative solutions that use the latest cleaning technology and processes. And most importantly, we understand and align with our customers’ requirements and expectations.
ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) has never been more important and it is a big topic inside our business. I’m really passionate about it and I was so proud to read and show my daughters the recently published environmental report. I believe we are heading in the right direction with this focus.
In your opinion, what sets Bidvest Noonan apart from competitors?
We are a large customer-focused services group with a rich history and fantastic infrastructure. The transport business unit operating under the Bidvest Noonan brand and infrastructure gives us the opportunity to offer greater support at every level. I love the fact that we have a great history, demonstrable capability and long-standing relationships.
Our transport management team’s experience and knowledge are unique. We have best-in-class teams supporting our frontline colleagues, from Health and Safety, Learning & Development to HR and Mobilisation teams. They understand the unique nature of our services in the Transport Sector.
What are the biggest challenges in delivering services to the Transport Sector?
Competition is fierce and because of the safety-critical and public-facing element of what we do, only a small band of companies can deliver that compliance and proactively operate within the sector.
Our customers have fixed commitments around quality standards for their passengers.
Our activities are mostly 24/7, 365 days of the year with a lot of work delivered in fast-paced environments. The balance between delivering sustainable quality and pressures on cost has never been tougher, we need to be constantly evolving and looking for fresh and innovative solutions.
What makes a good business development team?
The GB leadership team has given us tremendous backing. We now have a small, very tight team of passionate and creative solution designers in the Business Development team in the transport business unit. We talk every day and we operate as one, we are in it together. I believe that our Operations teams know that we always look to support them with development opportunities, understand the challenges of service delivery and ensure we reflect that in our solutions.
Today, we have a thought-through strategy, great intelligence on our marketplace and a healthy pipeline with some great opportunities.
