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You could say it was bound to happen. Geographically, there’s just a golf course-worth of land separating HR director James Hamill’s house from the factory floor of zero-emission bus maker, Wrightbus. And so it was that last year, after having spent eight years in other HR roles in the Belfast area, the lure of working in his hometown was too strong – much like it has been for the many of the other residents of the small Northern Irish town of Ballymena. Why? Because this company, in this town, has quite literally seen a staggering turnaround in its fortunes.
James Hamill
HR Director, Wrightbus
A little over five years ago, Wrightbus, the company that was responsible for building the first 1,000 of the new iconic London Routemaster buses (and was the go-to bus maker for the likes of Arriva, Go-Ahead and National Express), was on the verge of collapse. In debt to the tune of £60 million, some 80 years of coach building history was very nearly wiped away forever. That was until an 11th-hour rescue package from Jo Bamford (son of the chairman of JCB), saw the company cheat being wound up, and was given another chance. And after re-launching on a strategy to be the leading zero-emission (electric and hydrogen-powered), bus builder, it’s literally been pedal to the floor since. From seeing just 160 buses roll of the production line in 2019, last year Wrightbus completed 1,016 orders. This year it plans to make around 1,250 buses, and next year – if all goes well, it’s targeting 1,400.
Big growth means big headcount growth
For a company whose output numbers and headcount needs are directly proportional, achieving such growth has already meant (and will continue to require), significant increases in employees.
Each bus it makes requires 1,400 man-hours to complete, and upping production by what seems like only a small number – from 22 to 24 per week – actually requires Wrightbus hiring an extra 100 full-time employees. These are everyone from electricians, to driver-line operators, electricians, computer scientists, and electric battery and hydrogen experts. And it’s no small endeavor considering Ballymena is a town of officially just 31,000 residents (including children and retirees); is surrounded by agricultural land; and is 30 miles from the nearest big city, Belfast.
I’d rather have the problem of finding 300 people than having 300 too many
“Today’s headcount of 2,216 is a massive increase on where we were just a few short years ago,” says Hamill. “Some 60% of our workforce lives within either ten minutes, or ten miles of Ballymena, making us one of the largest local employers.” How’s it been done though has been a function of some interesting techniques: scouring the local workforce, introducing apprenticeships to lure those thinking of becoming electricians, but also hiring from abroad.
