13th December 2006

~ Metroline Bus Driver to retire after 45 years service ~

On Wednesday 20th December, one of London's longest serving bus drivers is due to retire after an incredible 45 years. Metroline driver Garfield Harris came to the UK from Barbados in October 1961. He was employed by London Transport through their Direct Recruitment scheme in the Caribbean. This was set up due to a national labour shortage after World War Two; the scheme was highly successful and Transport for London recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary.

Garfield has seen lots of changes over the decades - many of those are improvements to the buses themselves. He said, "In the beginning, they were much harder to drive. There was no power steering and it was difficult. The steering wheel you had to push and pull very hard. You also had to really shift the gears, whereas now we just put it in automatic."

He also vividly remembers how cold it was when the group arrived in England. No-one had warned the new recruits about the different climate and they all found it quite a shock!

Garfield says he feels proud of his long service and believes the key to a long and happy occupation is just to find a job where you feel at ease. "I felt comfortable right from the beginning, and after you've stayed ten years or so, you don't want to move!"

Metroline's Chief Operating Officer, Sean O'Shea, said, "The loyalty and commitment of employees like Garfield are a significant factor in the success of Metroline. 45 years service is a fantastic achievement and I would like to congratulate and thank him for his many years of hard work."

Garfield is a popular character at his base in Metroline's Holloway Bus Garage, where he is known as 'The Gentleman of the Garage' for his well-mannered nature. He says he is looking forward to his retirement but will greatly miss all the friends he has made during his time with the company. Having moved to the city when he was just 20, he now thinks of both London and Barbados as home, so he plans to keep his house in Tottenham and will split his time between the two countries.

-Ends -

Note to editors:

- London Transport was the first organisation to set up a scheme to recruit staff directly from the Caribbean. In 1956, they opened a recruiting office in Barbados and the Barbadian government lent new recruits the fare to Britain, which was paid back over two years. Offices in Trinidad and Jamaica followed in 1966. The programme continued until 1970
- Metroline is one of the top five London-based bus companies, currently running 13.5% of the capital's bus services under contract to Transport for London
- Metroline carries 250 million passengers every year, operates 93 routes, covers over 37.5 million journey miles each year, employs almost 3700 people and runs a fleet of over 1,200 buses in North, West and Central London and South Hertfordshire.
- Metroline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Singapore based ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, which is the world's second largest listed land transport company.

Enquiries:

For further Metroline enquiries please contact:
Heather Whitbread, Communications Coordinator, Metroline 020 8218 8824