Arriva welcomes new drivers from Poland

Arriva North East is set to welcome 10 new Polish bus drivers toits North East driving team – bringing the number of itsNorth East drivers originating from Poland to 20.

The new employees, who come from Krakow in Poland and start worknext week are qualified, trained and experienced bus drivers. Theinitiative complements Arriva's continuous recruitment efforts, inturn enabling it to provide more stable and reliable service levelsfor customers.

Arriva North East managing director Steve Noble, said:

We operate in some areas where there are buoyant labourmarkets and sometimes it can prove difficult to recruit driverslocally.

We are keen to employ people as bus drivers from withinthe communities we serve – and we are also happy to receiveapplications from suitably qualified Europeancitizens.

Arriva is working in partnership with a training agency, basedin Krakov, which helps to facilitate the relocation of people fromPoland to the UK in a managed, supportive way. They are givenEnglish language training, capability and competency tests and areprepared for the cultural change, rather than simply making a moveto a different country.

Arriva has taken one of its own buses over to Poland so that thedrivers have experience of handling a right hand drive vehicle. Thecompany also provides a mentor for each group of Polish employeesso if they have any concerns or need to clarify anything, they cando so quickly and personally.

Arriva believes that the effort it puts into training andpreparation in a staged process helps to facilitate a moreeffective and mutually beneficial relationship. In fact, itsretention rate of Polish drivers so far is 100 per cent.

Steve Noble said:

It is important to ensure that these drivers areproperly prepared for relocation and that they are right for thejob. Their move to the UK is organised professionally and they aregiven every support, including assistance with documentation andsuitable accommodation.

We try to make the move as easy as possible in awelcoming environment and have involved local trades unions inintegrating the drivers. We have even organised social evenings andother events both in Poland and in the UK.

All new drivers receive training from Arriva's training schoolfor the first few weeks after they have arrived. After that, eachdriver is allocated an experienced driver as a 'buddy' for thefirst few weeks while they are out on the road, and Arriva reportsthat some good friendships have sprung from that.

Steve Noble said:

This is working really well. Our drivers have welcomedtheir new colleagues; they are settling in well, and will make agood contribution by helping us to deliver services forcustomers.

Arriva North East employs 1,400 bus drivers and operates acrossthe North East of England.