Jim was appointed Chair in July 2015 and has held this position since then. Previously he had a distinguished career with Scottish Enterprise and its predecessor The Scottish Development Agency where he held a number of senior positions. These included Managing Director Operations, Chief Executive Edinburgh and Lothians and Chief Executive Borders. Earlier in his career he had leadership roles in the delivery of landmark projects such as: The Edinburgh BioQuarter, The Edinburgh International Conference Centre and Exchange Financial District, Our Dynamic Earth and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. On secondment he also served as Director of Operations at the highly successful 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival.
In recognition of his contribution to Scotland’s economic development he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Edinburgh in 2010.
Sarah Boyd
Managing Director
As Lothian’s Managing Director, Sarah Boyd leads the organisation. Responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company, she works closely with the company’s senior team to deliver strategy, direction and leadership. With over 20 years in the bus industry, Sarah joined Lothian in 2013 as Head of Operations, before becoming Operations Director in February 2017.
Previously Scottish Chair of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, Sarah is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute. She currently chairs a subgroup of the Scottish Government’s Bus Taskforce, looking at improving driver shortages across the bus industry in Scotland. Sarah is passionate about the role Lothian plays within the communities it serves and is proud to be part of the company’s Charities Committee which oversees vital donations to many local charities.
Willie Hamilton
Operations Director
Willie Hamilton has been at Lothian for 12 years, having joined the business as a driver in August 2010.
Willie progressed from his driving role into a supervisory position within the control room in 2014 before becoming Lothian’s Operations Infrastructure Manager overseeing the digitalisation of bus destination screens and the introduction of a next stop information system.
In 2018, Willie was appointed Coaching and Touring Manager as a result of the launch of Lothian Motorcoaches, then General Manager after also taking on responsibility for Edinburgh Bus Tours in 2020 – guiding both of Lothian’s touring branches through the global Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdowns.
In the autumn of 2021, Willie was promoted to Lothian’s Head of Operations, placing him at the head of Lothian’s service delivery team overseeing a team of managers and supervisors responsible for nearly 1700 drivers. In 2022, Willie became Lothian’s interim Operations Director.
Colin Barnes
Engineering Director
Colin has spent his entire career in the Transport industry starting out as an Apprentice Mechanic Engineer with Go North East progressing through the business to become Engineer Supervisor after a spell as a Technical Engineer.
Following a move to South Tyneside Council, Colin was eventually promoted to Fleet Services Manager, winning ‘Best Fleet’ in the Fleet News 2014 National Awards. Colin was credited with transforming the fleet, improving productivity and reducing the impact on the environment.
Colin returned to Go North East in 2014, and two years later was named Head of Engineering, responsible for over 700 vehicles. In 2019, Colin became Engineering Director and was recognised as RouteOne’s Engineer of the Year.
In January 2023, Colin joined Lothian as Engineering Director and is excited to lead Lothian’s engineering teams with a focus on embracing new technology and maintaining one of the most modern fleets in the UK.
John Benson
Finance Director
After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, John spent several years in general practice before moving into industry where he worked for a local Shipping Port Group for 10 years, latterly as Group Financial Accountant before moving to Lothian Buses in February 2014 to take on the role of Group Management Accountant. John was appointed as Finance Director in 2018 and is responsible for Finance, Payroll, IT and Strategic Systems across the Group and as Company Secretary plays an integral role as part of the Board and Executive Leadership Team.
Gaynor Marshall
Communications Director
Gaynor joined Lothian in 2013 as a short-term project lead on a new ticketing campaign. Three years later, she was appointed Communications Director with overall responsibility for all internal and external communications, frontline customer service, retail and accessibility across the Lothian Group.
Passionate about the positive impact that good communication can have on wider organisational culture and customer experience, Gaynor has over 30 years of business experience. Including early stints at John Lewis and Royal Bank of Scotland, Gaynor then led her own marketing consultancy where she worked with a number of different organisations.
Commercially focused with a strong background in strategic stakeholder management, Gaynor is passionate about developing talent and encouraging diversity within the wider transport industry
Dr. Steve Cassidy
Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Steve has worked in transport for over 35 years. He is a founding Director of a Scottish mobility technology company and undertakes consultancy in the design and development of future mobility strategies. Steve has lived in France, Belgium, USA and has worked extensively throughout Europe and Canada. Steve has lived in Edinburgh since 2010. Steve was Chair of Lothian Buses Remuneration Committee and is currently still an active member.
Mark Yexley
Non-Executive Director
Mark has worked in the bus industry for 36 years developing this career from a graduate trainee at London Buses, Mark worked his way up to Executive Director level at Arriva UK Bus an organisation which, at the time Mark left had 6,000 buses, 19,000 employees and 70 bus depots through the UK. A graduate of Bristol University and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Mark was the President of the Chartered Institute of Passenger Transport in 2012. Mark brings with him a wealth of bus sector experience from working on projects that develop environmental initiatives like smart ticketing, fuel saving initiatives and the transport offering for London 2012. Mark is also Chair of Lothian Buses Remuneration Committee.
Tony Rose
Non-Executive Director
After gaining an MSc in Transportation at Imperial College London, Tony started his career as a Transport Analyst and worked on major infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. In 2004 he relocated to Edinburgh whilst a Director in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Infrastructure Finance team, providing financial advice to public and private sector clients on complex transport infrastructure projects such as Thameslink, Borders Railway, Edinburgh Tram and heavy rail franchise.
Tony has been a Director at Scottish Futures Trust since 2010, where he has held various responsibilities across Transport, Digital, Low Carbon, Economy and Place, with an overarching focus to support both public and private sector stakeholders in planning, delivering and financing infrastructure for Scotland. During 2019-2021 Tony was seconded to lead the work of the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland. Tony has been a Non-Executive Director of Lothian Buses since 2015, and a member of Lothian Buses Audit and Risk Committee during this time, holding the role of Chair between 2016 to 2019. Tony has also held other Non-Executive roles with HubEast Central Co and the Scotrail Alliance.
Susan Deacon
Non-Executive Director
Susan has more than 30 years’ experience in organisational change, policy development and corporate governance in a career spanning the private, public and third sectors, as well as academia and national politics. She has served on the boards of a range of businesses and charities – including in the arts, energy, housing and health – and has helped build many strategic collaborations within the Edinburgh City Region and at a national level. Susan is currently Chair of the Edinburgh Festivals Forum and a Professorial Fellow and Senior Adviser with the University of Edinburgh and was previously Chair of the Scottish Police Authority and of the Institute of Directors in Scotland, A former Edinburgh MSP and Scottish Minister, she was awarded a CBE for services to business, education and public service in 2017. Susan is a member of our Audit and Risk and Nominations Committees, and is Chair of the Regional Sub-Committee, which brings together Lothian’s three minority shareholder local authorities.
Iain Reid
Non-Executive Director
With a strong financial background Iain started his career as a qualified chartered accountant, with KPMG. He also has experience as company secretary at Scottish Widows before becoming Chief Operating Officer at their Investment Management business. Iain has since held the posts of global Chief Financial Officer, Partner and Finance Director posts in various financial organisations in the
UK an d abroad. Iain’s most recent position as Chief Executive Officer at the Faculty of Advocates, where he was responsible for the entire organisation which supports 730 advocates. Iain is currently Chair of our Audit and Risk Committee and a member of our Remuneration Committee and more recently part of the Charity of Choice Committee.
Fraser Wallace
Employee Director
Fraser has enjoyed an extensive career in the bus industry with over 34 years’ service. Beginning as a driver at Eastern Scottish in 1987, Fraser joined Lothian in 1989 and spent 13 years in the driving team. In 2002 Fraser took the next step in his career by joining Lothian’s supervisory team, working as an Incident Response Supervisor. Fraser progressed to become an AVL controller, before being promoted to his current position of Duty Controller.
Fraser was appointed Lothian’s Employee Director in December 2020 following a colleague ballot. Fraser brings a wealth of operational experience to the board and has previously served as Branch Secretary of the Union during his career at Lothian.