Vincent McKenna 1951-2013

I am very sad to report the death of my old friend Vin McKenna, who died aged 62 on Tuesday of a heart attack.

For anyone in the bus industry, McKenna is an instantly recognisable name - that of producers of destination blinds, a business which Vin and his brother Paul set up in 1978.

From small beginnings, their business benefitted from a bus industry rapidly outsourcing. Today, their products are in use worldwide. They now produce electronic displays, powered destination equipment and a complete design, print and fit vehicle vinyls service.

From their earliest hand-cut lettering days McKennas carved a niche market in producing high quality destination blinds. Just as London Transport’s own in-house production department was giving way to outsourcing, McKenna's caught the market. Before long they were producing material to the highest quality standards for which they are deservedly renowned today.

As technology developed they broadened their range and inevitably gained international acclaim for their work. Only a couple of months ago they were visited by Mayor Boris Johnson to acknowledge the work that they do.


Vin was one of the industry’s colourful characters. His dry wit, laconic delivery, and huge generosity was his marque. A family man, he also enjoyed playing a part in the huge family which is the international public transport community.

To enjoy more leisure time, he had handed over daily responsibility to others – Derek Dawson, Malc Randles and team but, remained ‘in charge’ in his own special way.

It is not always easy to describe in a few words how someone may be remembered after they have gone. For Vin it is very simple. On the front, side and rear of every London bus - is a destination blind made at his Middleton, Manchester factory by his team of dedicated staff - showing us the way.

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The conclusion of my 2009 Christmas Eve story

Regular readers will remember the story from four years ago, the one about the old London bus we found in France - of all places.

To recap go to

http://leondaniels.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/story-of-rtw335-tale-for-christmas.html

Originally brought home in 2004, it was despatched for restoration. It was a huge job! As I had previously described – the interior, the hole in the floor, etc – it was a complete wreck.

The photos speak for themselves:

As originally found in 2003

One of our bigger challenges for the journey was a major fuel problem which was overcome by feeding the header tank from a 25litre plastic container down a hosepipe through the front saloon window.

The before and after of the lower saloon

Incredible considering the length of time of disuse and all we know about the degradation of fuel systems and the fungus that grows in it.

A final problem was the refusal of the DVLA to return its original registration number – the authorities confused as ever of decades of identity swaps by London buses and an ever-reducing number of us who know how/why it was done and how to convince modern young officials of the legitimacy of it all.

And so eventually they were – and just in time for the vehicle to make its first official debut on Saturday along with other vintage vehicles at the annual Ensignbus running day.

You will agree that a fabulous job has been done.

One country, two systems

In a short week the Mayor Boris Johnson has led a posse of business leaders through China and to Hong Kong drumming up investment for London and championing our capital as THE place to be for business, culture, education and growth.

Surrounded by a mass of eager press, Boris spoke at countless lunches and dinners, ran daily back-to-back meetings as well as obliging the media with quotes and photo opportunities making front page headlines in both the UK and China.

As you might expect, the planning included a New Bus for London and a couple of Barclays Cycle Hire bikes. The bikes were shipped and presented to key business leaders in China whilst LT3 became the third New Bus for London to leave our shores and travel the world.

Since leaving the UK last May, LT1 has journeyed from New York through Colombia and is now in South Korea. LT2 has visited numerous European countries and most recently was in Austria. With their time fully committed to the GREAT Britain campaign run by UKTI, a third bus had to be shipped to Hong Kong.

When the bus arrived in Hong Kong, it was looked after by Kowloon Motor Bus and supported by Wrightbus. Thanks to our good relations with the Hong Kong Transport Department, the bus was licensed to move around and was in the capable hands of an outstanding KMB driver. On Thursday, Mark Nodder (CEO Wrightbus) and I carried out a dry run of activities for Friday when the Mayor was due to arrive.

And so he did - we collected him in Wanchai and took him to the Star Ferry whereupon he took a return trip across to Kowloon. We were ceremoniously greeted by the Star Ferry crew in full dress uniform, even though we travelled in steerage - downstairs. The Mayor posed for the press and continued to answer a barrage of questions.

After a series of meetings, LT3 took him to the Shangri-La hotel for a business lunch attended by hundreds and he took the opportunity to express his wish that Hong Kong might soon also choose NBfL as its next generation double-decker. The city has the same air quality issues as London and the amazing fuel economy and 'best in world' emissions delivery make a fully air-conditioned NBfL a real prospect.

Boris later announced - in his classic humorous style - that he was giving five New Bus for London vehicles to KMB as a gift from TfL!

The Chief Officers of KMB graciously accepted their Corgi models, much to my relief.

More photocalls, more interviews before a final reception at the residence of the Consul General. The Mayor departed for London and we cleared up our loose ends before preparing to leave town.

Many readers will know I spent a lot of time in this part of the world in the 1990s. In those days, Hong Kong used to buy old British buses. For some 30 years now they've been buying huge numbers of new buses from UK manufacturers. I wonder when we might see the iconic New Bus here soon....?

KMB Chief Officers, The Mayor, me, Mark Nodder and Charles Goodier
from Wrightbus and Thomas Heatherwick

Boris in Manchester

On Monday Mayor Boris Johnson, en route to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, called in to see McKenna Brothers – the main manufacturers of destination blinds for buses in London and around the world.

At their HQ in Middleton, Boris saw first hand this amazing family-owned business which makes nearly all of our printed destination blinds, as well as signage for numerous applications including electronic signs.

The printing of traditional destination blinds in London was one of the many specialisms held in-house for decades. London Transport perfected the silk-screen printing of them in huge quantities on paper bills glued to rolls of linen.

During the 1980s this work was outsourced and a few private firms provided the service instead. McKenna Brothers quickly noticed that a good eye for detail put them head and shoulders ahead of the competition and over time they became market leaders. Indeed now they supply the world.

Across the country there were also major developments with electronic equipment which McKennas were fast to exploit. LED displays are quick to modify but as yet do not display the clarity in the arduous typographical conditions of bus destination blinds which is why we in London (and indeed in Edinburgh) continue with print.

Nowadays the print is on superior material – untearable and with lasting light-fast properties. Boris tried his hand at the age old tradition of spreading ink across the back of a silk screen forcing ink around the lettering already set out to make the reversed-out displays that are familiar to all our passengers.

He made, and was presented, with a special blind naming not only some locations but also the materials produced across the whole of the UK as a result of New Bus for London orders.

Across the whole of Greater London, McKenna’s products are taken for granted – showing our 6.5m passengers a day where they are going.

His visit done, the Mayor continued with his journey to Manchester.

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What goes around....

We were very pleased with our new buses when
they came in 1989:
Metrobuses for 165 and 365 and Olympians for the 252
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Friday 27th September was the end of an interesting chapter of London’s bus history, and for me personally. 

In 1988, when working at Ensign Bus Services Ltd, I won four bus routes in Romford – 165, 365, 246 and 446. Two other routes, 248 and 252 were won by East Midlands.

What we started with - all secondhand and all beautifully turned out

At the time, it was the biggest private sector win over London Transport ever. Indeed, it caused Hornchurch Garage to close. The realities of competitive tendering were beginning to dawn on the incumbent operator. 

I remember like it was yesterday, working all night to be ready, with our fleet of buses springing into service in September 1988. East Midlands did not fair so well and we took over their routes too, but not before another long night at start up.

Our second long night involved
absorbing these old Manchester
Atlanteans from East Midland

Our cornerstone of Romford routes were repeatedly tendered and retained although operations physically transferred to a new site at Dagenham Dock. Others tried to unseat us from these routes but we endured.

Over time, Ensign Bus Services' ownership changed – an abortive sale to a US company came and went – and we ended up being owned by CNT Holdings in Hong Kong. In the meantime, London Transport’s buses were also privatized and our nearest neighbour became an operating unit called East London which eventually was sold to Stagecoach.

In due course, in 1995, my management team, led by my great friend Brendan Glyde and I, bought the company. Soon after, these routes were again tendered and retained – much to our relief and despite a massive effort by others to beat us. But by 1998, we had much expanded the business and having exhausted the borrowing capacity and patience of our financial backers, we sold it on to FirstGroup plc.

The business was joined with CentreWest London Buses Ltd – Peter Hendy’s former company now also in FirstGroup ownership. Despite contract churn across East and West London these core routes remained steadfastly in Dagenham Dock with us, although a new depot on a nearby site replaced the old one.

As a director of First, I ceased to have direct management responsibility for London operations in 2005 but continued to keep a fatherly eye on those Romford routes.

So here we are, 25 years later, by a quirk of fate it was me, now in my capacity as MD Surface Transport at TfL, who took them away and gave them (back) to East London – now a subsidiary (for the second time) of Stagecoach.

After a quarter of a century they are returning from whence they came to the “London Transport” operator in the area although Hornchurch Garage itself is no more – indeed is a housing estate.

On Friday, I went to Romford for a nostalgic ride around my old network, reminiscing about how I used to drive on these routes especially late at night and at weekends. Much, of course, has changed in Romford since then. When the routes finished on Friday night, it completed First's exit from London and the last real traces of my old company.

To all who made that chapter so enjoyable – employees of Ensignbus, Capital Citybus, and First – thank you and enjoy the memory! 

Top - the old Hornchurch Garage which closed
and
Bottom - Dagenham Dock - an open space with a maintenance
shed and fuel tank in the most exposed and uninhabited
place in England - or so it seemed!

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Route 11 conversion started on Friday night

Ready for departure at Liverpool Street Station

The first New Bus for London on route 11 entered service Friday night. LT59 left Liverpool Street Station at 1821 for Victoria.

This is the start of a progressive conversion of the route which will be complete in the next 10 days adding a further 27 or so vehicles to the existing fleet.

Surprised passengers were again delighted to hop on & off, and many tourists were scrambling aboard London's latest icon.

My thanks to George Odlum for this photo
This and more at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88992756@N06/9841077453/

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Heavy Goods Vehicle safety

Boris Johnson in the cab of our HGV

Today’s long-planned Heavy Goods Vehicle safety event was promoting further steps to try and reduce the risk to cyclists from large lorries. Sadly the event was marred by the death of another cyclist – the seventh this year and the fifth in collision with an HGV. My sympathies go out to the family.

At the ‘Exchanging Places’ event opposite the Houses of Parliament, people were able to sit in the cab of a well-equipped HGV and see first hand the blind spots which lorry drivers must contend with.

Boris Johnson and Transport Minister Stephen Hammond were amongst those to experience this.

To make sure that this is a two-way process, promoting safety, our Police will be on the streets of London at specific locations inviting cyclists to see it from the lorry driver’s point of view and caution those who break the law.

Vulnerable road users (which includes pedestrians), can be in jeopardy if they do not remain vigilant whilst using our roads and footways. 

The Mayor and the Minister announced further measures are to be considered. These include the fitting out of HGVs with appropriate safety features, including side guards, mirrors, Fresnel lenses. Additionally all HGV drivers would undertake training highlighting the risks to vulnerable road users. These features are already contractually required for work on GLA family projects including all London Underground and Crossrail works. Good quality operators have also adopted these measures and we are keen for others to follow suit.

Alongside this event, further up the road, we had a joint enforcement operation with VOSA, Police, Department for Works and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Large vehicles were being inspected to make sure that even the minimum legal standards are being achieved – both in terms of vehicle standards, load security and drivers’ standards.

In a series of random checks, rather shockingly nearly a third of vehicles stopped failed to meet those standards. Out of 59 vehicles, 16 had mechanical defects, two drivers had breached Driver Hours Regulations, and 17 were issued with fixed penalty notices. One vehicle with numerous defects had no valid ‘O’ licence nor did the driver have any entitlement to drive.

Certain types of large vehicles are excluded from the Regulations if they are classified as ‘plant’. Thus one heavily overloaded, four-axle volumetric mixer, which needs no Operator’s Licence, HGV drivers’ licence, or HGV test certificate was not only destroying London’s roads but had a defective tyre as well.

We recognise freight as an important part of London’s traffic. The industry delivers goods, facilitates construction and supplies our needs. Indeed our economy depends on it. However given the unequal fight between such large and heavy vehicles against vulnerable road users - we must make sure that all road users are at least following minimum standards.

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