Friendly, affordable bus and coach services in Brighton & Hove, using zero-emissions electric buses, powered by renewable energy and owned by the local community
We would like to take the opportunity to thank all our staff, passengers, suppliers, stakeholders and supporters for all your help over the last year and we wish you a very Happy New Year! As is now a bit of a tradition, here are the highlights from the last 12 months…
Following Brighton & Hove City Council’s decision to award the contract for the next four years to another local operator, today is sadly the last day – for now – that we will be running services 16, 47 and 52 for residents in Saltdean, Rottingdean, Woodingdean, Ovingdean, Kemptown, Preston Park, Hollingbury, Patcham, Seven Dials, Knoll, Hangleton and Portslade.
Thank you to our passengers and supporters for your custom and your support, it has been a real pleasure getting to know you and working with you to improve services in your community and across our city. To mark this occasion we would like to share some of the highlights of the last eight years running these services (13 years for the 52!) and reflect on what’s next.
We have run bus services on behalf of Brighton & Hove City Council since 2012 when we started operating the 52, and then in 2017 we also won contracts to run the 16, 47, 56, 57 and 66 services too. Our twin aims while running these services have been to engage with the community to improve the services, and to run them as sustainably as possible, with kind, friendly drivers who aim to give everyone on the bus the care and attention they deserve.
We haven’t got it right all the time, and goodness we’ve had some difficult moments over the years, but we’ve developed a wonderful community of staff, passengers, investors and supporters over that time and done our best to provide a genuine community service.
How have the services evolved since we have run them?
During this time we have worked with the community and the Council to improve the services, with much success. When we took on the 52 in 2012 it was an hourly service from Woodingdean via Ovingdean to Brighton Marina, Monday to Saturday 7am – 8pm. We held public meetings in Woodingdean and Ovingdean to find out from passengers and residents what they liked about the services, what they didn’t like, and how they could be improved, and then extended the service into Brighton.
Following more changes in 2019 and 2023 it now runs from Woodingdean and Ovingdean via Brighton Marina to the Hospital and City Centre, and up to London Road, Fiveways, Hollingbury and Patcham; 7am to midnight Monday to Saturday, and 9am – 10pm on Sundays.
And when we took on route 47 in 2017 it ran hourly from East Saltdean via the Marina and the Hospital to Brighton Station, Monday to Saturday 7am – 8pm. Now it runs all the way to West Hove Sainsburys, via Seven Dials, Old Shoreham Road, Knoll Estate and Hangleton; 7am to midnight Monday to Saturday and 9am – 10pm on Sundays.
The 16 has also changed quite considerably; when we started doing it in 2017 it was a strange service that ran every 70 minutes, inter-working with a similar service 66 that also ran every 70 minutes. The 16 and 66 had some common sections, but then went different ways around Hangleton, and the result was that no one apart from hardcore regulars really knew which service they needed or when it came. After public meetings and passenger surveys we changed the 16 so it ran hourly at the same times each hour, added in extra time to improve reliability and incorporated Hove Polyclinic.
As a result of these improvements passenger numbers across all services have more than doubled since 2017.
The Passenger Experience
At The Big Lemon, the passenger experience is where it all starts. Our focus over the last 13 years has been on providing a flexible, personal service, with helpful and friendly drivers. We are incredibly grateful to our drivers who have gone the extra mile for passengers every day, and our office staff who support them. We have tried to give everyone on the bus a positive experience, and always turned a blind eye to the 9am start for concessionary pass-holders, instead carrying older people and disabled passengers free of charge at any time of day or night, and if a bus is out of service for whatever reason we have provided taxis free of charge to anyone who has needed it.
“I wanted to write in about your 47 driver on Tuesday afternoon. When I got on at the Marina the driver welcomed everybody on and seemed to know lots of the people getting on (they called him Charlie so I’m assuming that is his name!) He carried peoples shopping on the bus and when they got off got out and helped them off. He seemed to know exactly where everyone wanted to get off and dropped them outside their houses.
“At grand ocean there was an elderly couple getting off and because it was so busy he helped them cross the road. When I pressed the bell he asked if he could drop me any nearer to where I wanted to go, but the bus stop is opposite my house. It just made it such a personalised service that I don’t think I’ve ever seen anywhere else. It looks like this driver brightens people’s days and even just having a little conversation with elderly people as it might be their only chat of the day. Outstanding service and definitely a 10/10 experience. What a lovely man”
Zero-emissions Fleet
We have also been busy transitioning our fleet in Brighton & Hove to a zero-tailpipe-emissions fleet. When we started running the 52 in 2012, all our buses ran on recycled waste cooking oil from local restaurants in and around Brighton & Hove. Using recycled cooking oil has many benefits, but it does nothing for air quality, so in 2017 we launched our first electric bus, and put 128 solar panels on the roof of our bus depot to power it. Since then we have added another 24 electric buses to our fleet, and in 2022 operated all our Brighton & Hove services with zero-emissions electric buses for the first time, all powered by 100% renewable energy.
Wider Social Impact
As a community business, we have also used our depot and our infrastructure to support other local social enterprises and community initiatives such as Brighton & Hove Community Transport, the Bike Hub, Aid For Ukraine, the City Reuse Depot and the Play Bus, for whom we provided a home after they lost their funding.
Why is The Big Lemon not going to run these services any more?
Our contract with Brighton & Hove City Council comes to an end tomorrow, and a new contract starts on Monday. The Council put the new contract out to tender towards the end of last year, and we put in a bid. We felt optimistic about the tender, because it required the operator to “phase out petrol/diesel vehicles over the course of the contract, in line with the Council’s 2020-2030 Fleet Management Strategy and 2030 net zero carbon target.”
Great news for us; we already had 25 electric vehicles and charging infrastructure and could provide this from day 1.
We were surprised, therefore, when the Council told us that instead of our zero-emission vehicle solution for the next four years, they were choosing a diesel service (provided by Compass Travel). The Council pointed out the requirement for the phasing out of diesel vehicles was a ‘scored’ criteria rather than a ‘pass/fail’ question (which is true), but it is also true that the requirement for the phasing out of diesel vehicles is part of the new contract, which means the new operator is contractually required to do it. And if it was all down to the scores, how did a fully compliant zero-emission electric bus solution score 4/5 and a non-compliant diesel solution score 5/5?
We should emphasise at this point that we have nothing against the Compass Travel at all; on the contrary we are big cheerleaders for local independent bus operators, and very glad when we see other independents doing well. We’ve worked closely with Compass and others for many years and will continue to do so for many years to come.
Will diesel vehicles be phased out under the new contract?
That remains to be seen, but it doesn’t look good. After initially insisting that the winning bid did indeed “include a plan with specific actions” to phase out diesel vehicles, the Council have eventually admitted that the plan includes “only a small percentage of the winning bidder’s fleet being zero-emission buses”.
This is clearly not compliant with the tender specification, or the contract, so we have appealed the Council’s decision.
The end of carbon neutral 2030?
There is a bigger question in all this; Brighton & Hove City Council’s commitment to a carbon neutral 2030. In 2018 the Council declared a climate emergency, and in 2021 it launched the Carbon Neutral Programme which aimed to transition the Council to ‘net zero’ by 2030.
In 2022 the Council adopted a sustainable procurement policy that requires “setting a default minimum sub criterion weighting of 10% of the quality criteria for environmental sustainability,(with the expectation of a significantly higher percentage weighting in sectors where this can be easily achieved, such as catering and cleaning)” (their italics). Although the transport sector is not catering or cleaning (which were given as examples only), it is certainly a sector where a significantly higher weighting can be easily achieved. Indeed, apart from energy and, possibly, construction, it is hard to think of a more relevant sector for achieving significant carbon reductions.
However the Council did not take the opportunity to increase the percentage weighting for environmental sustainability beyond 10%, despite the very clear instruction in the policy. And if it fails to apply its own sustainable procurement policy to a tender where huge improvements in sustainability are possible, what hope is there for everything else?
So what is happening now?
There are a number of things going on at once. While we continue to challenge the Council’s decision we also have to accept that these things take time. This means that our priorities right now are to
In order to achieve these things we are working with Compass Travel to provide them with space in our depot. In our discussions with our staff team the location of Compass’ depot in Lewes was the biggest barrier to our team transferring across to Compass, and that in turn is the biggest risk to the reliability of the service from April onwards (if our staff don’t transfer there won’t be enough drivers for the services). This will hopefully mean that the service continues seamlessly; that our staff continue to have the jobs they love (albeit slightly differently); and the income from the site will help offset the loss of the contract income.
Will The Big Lemon be ok?
Yes. This is a big setback, but with all the growth of the last few years the Council contracts now represent less than half of our income compared with 85% in 2021. The Council contract was also our most challenging contract to manage and used up a disproportionate amount of resources, resources that will now be available for other things. That doesn’t mean we are happy to see it go, of course; it remains a huge disappointment for our team, and a huge step backwards for sustainable transport in Brighton & Hove.
Going forward, we are keen to bounce back in Brighton & Hove. We have an excellent team (albeit soon to be smaller) with a passionate, ambitious and experienced manager in Charlotte Hautot and we continue to run services for Legal and General and GB Met College (previously City College). These services are also fully electric, and we are preparing our Higer 24 seat electric buses for private hire too. They are have comfy seats, loads of luggage space, seatbelts and USB chargers so if you know anyone who wants to hire an electric bus please do let us know!
Can you help?
We have been touched by the huge number of people coming forward and asking what they can do to help. If you feel strongly about why the Council has ignored its own policy and tender specification and chosen a diesel bus service instead of a zero-emissions electric bus service powered by renewables, in the middle of a climate crisis, when the authority itself has declared a climate emergency and drawn up a plan for a carbon neutral 2030, which is only five years away… we would love to hear from you!
Thank you
Finally, as we reach the last stop, we would like to thank all those who have made this journey possible. Despite our disappointment we are grateful to Brighton & Hove City Council for giving us the opportunity to run these services for residents, and we would like to thank the officers in the public transport team for their support and assistance over the years.
To our passengers, thank you for your custom; to our investors and supporters, thank you for believing in us and supporting us all these years, and to our staff team who made it all happen, you really are the best. We have been honoured to work with such a wonderful group of people and we are devastated that many of our team will be leaving us before time. Thank you for all your hard work and everything you have done to put a smile on our passengers’ faces every day.
We would like to leave you with an email that we received just the other day that perfectly encapsulates what we have been trying to achieve all these years:
Hello,
Apologies that this may be a long email, but I would like to share some gratitude and appreciation for your operations in Brighton.
I have been an electric vehicle enthusiast since I was about 16, when I first heard of Tesla 10 years ago. Ever since then I have been tremendously excited whenever I have seen EVs, and occasionally even had the chance to get a ride in one.
I haven’t finished learning to drive yet, but one of the things that has kept me motivated is the thought having my own electric vehicle one day.
In the meantime, it has been a true joy to discover that there has already been a fleet of fully electric buses on the streets of Brighton. And that you have pioneered a service of doing things differently, as a community operator.
I live in Eastbourne so I haven’t had the pleasure of getting to ride your buses every day, but upon hearing the news, I booked a day off at the end of Feb just to spend a few hours riding the 52.
After doing the whole route on your Solos and Steeds, it struck me that there is something different about The Big Lemon. Yes, you have quiet, smooth and distinctive buses. But it’s more than that. It’s that your drivers are next level.
This was confirmed to me when I watched Tom’s talk ‘Zen and the art of bus driving’. It’s in how you train your drivers to be thoughtful people who always consider just what your passengers need in that moment.
Whether it’s being mindful of elderly or less mobile passengers and always waiting until they have sat down before departing – I’ve never been on a Brighton bus that does this, and their 400ERs pull away just as strongly, so sometimes I’ve seen passengers and their shopping go flying.
Or in how the way your drivers kindly offer to take passengers’ luggage and place it securely at the front in the luggage space. Or with the slightly awkward design of the Higers, how the drivers offer to take people’s cards and place them on the reader, for passengers young and old.
I used to get the B&H route 12 from my home in Eastbourne to Seaford Head School. I worked out recently that I must have been over the Seven Sisters over a thousand times by now. So I’ve spent a fair few hours of my life on buses. And yet it only took me half an afternoon to realise just what a difference it makes when your staff have been equipped to place customer service above anything else.
And the best part is that all of these simple gestures cost nothing. A few seconds at most. Tom’s talk was 15 minutes long, and already it contained a list of half a dozen action points that would be trivial to implement for any other bus operator.
The other thing that struck me was just how well you treat your staff. I spoke to one driver, and when he had stopped for the break near Patcham Co-op, I asked if he was thinking about transferring to Compass. He said that Stagecoach pay a pittance, and that B&H make you feel like you’re constantly being watched; eg he would never have been permitted to talk to me.
And boy do I think it makes a difference. Another example: my last ride on The Big Lemon was around 6.30pm on Tuesday, route 52 from London road shops towards Lidl near the marina. And I have to say, I think that may have been the warmest greeting by any bus driver I have ever had. It put a big smile on my face for the rest of the journey, and made me want to ride with you again.
So thank you. I am devastated that this is your last week of public operation in Brighton. I volunteer with a charity supporting neurodiverse young people, so I am used to thinking about sensory needs, and from this perspective I can say that your electric buses have been a Godsend. When you compare to a full street of 6 litre diesel engines idling, there’s nothing quite like being able to climb onboard and experience the absence of almost any noise, vibration or hardness.
I wish you every continued success in the Bristol area, and I do hope you are contacted by other companies soon with more opportunities. And also that other bus operators nationally choose to learn from you as a shining example of how to run a company in such a way that brings delight to staff and passengers.
All the very best
Josh
We are delighted to announce six brand new services and improved timetables on three other routes, representing the biggest improvements in our services in the West of England since we first launched in Bristol nearly two years ago.
The new services are being launched in partnership with local residents and community groups and funded by the West of England Combined Authority’s WESTlocal ‘people powered transport’ programme. The new services are being launched tomorrow, Sunday 1 September (61 and 99), and Monday 2 September (K1, P1, Y8 and 40):
Improved timetables are also being launched on two existing WESTlocal services, the 2V and the X91, as well as the X10 which is operated in partnership with North Somerset Council. The new timetables apply from Monday 2 September:
“We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to work with residents, community groups and the West of England Combined Authority to launch vital new bus links for communities across the region, and to improve services on existing routes too.
Following the launch of zero-emissions electric buses on routes in Bristol and Bath for the first time earlier this year, this is another step towards our 2030 vision where every community in the UK has access to affordable, sustainable transport, using zero-emissions vehicles powered by renewable energy and owned by the local community.
However today is also a sad day as tonight we say good bye to the 84/85 service between Yate and Wotten-Under-Edge. It has been a huge privilege to run the service for the last 15 months and we’d like to thank South Gloucestershire Council for funding the service and all the wonderful passengers and campaigners who have worked so hard to keep the service going. We ultimately lost this particular battle but we’ve not lost the war – thank you for all your efforts, the campaign continues!”
Tom Druitt, The Big Lemon’s CEO
Following consultation with a stakeholder, The Big Lemon is changing its name to The Big Orange.
The stakeholder, Simon Williams, who used The Big Lemon once in 2013, said, “Oranges taste much better than lemons, so it should definitely be The Big Orange”
Founder and CEO Tom Druitt said, “Community is a big part of our culture, and we have a strong tradition of listening and acting on passenger feedback. It has worked well for Orange Telecom, so it can’t be a bad idea”
The new branding will be similar to the current look, and vehicles will be repainted orange over coming months. It is thought the re-branding will be complete by 29 February 2025.
The Big Lemon will soon be launching electric buses in Bristol and Bath.
The first vehicles arrived at our Bristol depot on Saturday 23 March following trials in Brighton.
The buses are Optare Solo EVs supplied by Switch UK. Originally new to Stagecoach in Inverness, they have undergone a retrofit and refurbishment program at the manufacturer’s, and given a splash of yellow paint in preparation for service with us.
We have been busy preparing our depot in readiness, with the installation of four electric bus chargers in our Bristol depot.
Following the delivery of the buses at our depot we had a staff training event, going through safety and defect checking and reporting procedures as well as familiarisation with the new electric buses and how to give our passengers the best possible experience in the bus.
And today, Monday 25 March, we took one of the buses to the Royal United Hospital as part of the Hospital’s active travel day.
There we met Cllr Sarah Warren, Deputy Leader and Exec Member for Sustainability for Bath & North East Somerset, and Georgia-Rose Gleeson from the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, and showed them around the new bus.
By a wonderful coincidence today also marked the third anniversary of our General Manager Colin Morris’s arrival at The Big Lemon. Speaking at the event, Colin said:
As I reflect on my 3rd Anniversary at The Big Lemon, I am currently at a sustainable travel event at RUH, with an electric bus.
We first brought The Big Lemon into the West of England 18 months ago with a vision of introducing zero-emissions electric bus services. This week sees that vision come a big step closer as we trial our new electric buses on route 515 in Bristol and 20 in Bath.
This has been an exciting and sometimes difficult journey, but one I am proud to have been a part of, and I’d like to thank all our team, the West of England Combined Authority, Bristol City Council and Bath & North East Somerset council for all their help and support to make it happen. Now to finish the job!
As is becoming tradition, we have chosen a few highlights from 2023 to share 🙂
In January we reviewed our progress over the last four years in terms of passenger numbers and the impact of our transition to electric buses on our carbon footprint. The stats are for our Brighton & Hove services 16, 47, 52 and 57 (and for 2019 they include the old 56 and 66 to give a like-for-like comparison). We can see the impact of Covid in 2020 and the gradual recovery in 2021, and finally we see a full recovery in 2022 with more passengers carried on those services than before Covid.
We can also see the impact of the transition to electric buses on our carbon footprint. The carbon footprint of these services has halved in the last four years as we have transitioned to an electric fleet, even as the number of miles driven, and passengers carried, has increased.
| Brighton & Hove Public Bus Services | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Passenger journeys | 260,106 | 158,541 | 200,881 | 274,089 |
| Miles driven | 281,273 | 228,612 | 320,196 | 314,527 |
| C02 footprint (tonnes) | 265 | 113 | 151 | 131 |
| C02 saved compared with diesel (tonnes) | 204 | 268 | 382 | 393 |
In February we started planning the transition of Bath services 11 and 12, and Bristol service 505 to new operators following the award of contracts for the next four years from April. We were awarded contracts for our Bath service 20 and Bristol service 515; sadly routes 506 and 516 were not awarded at all and so these routes would stop altogether when our contract came to an end in April.
Huge thanks to our Bristol and Bath teams who did such a great job on these services at very short notice, and many thanks indeed to our passengers for your support. We are delighted to have been awarded long term contracts for the 20 and 515 but we miss the passengers on the 11, 12, 505, 506 and 516 very much!
In March we signed our lease for new premises in Bristol to give our operation in the West a permanent home. Until now we had been using Long Ashton Park & Ride for our Bristol operation and the shared use of a coach depot in Radstock for our Bath operation, but with the new depot in Bedminster we have everything together; offices, parking, a bus wash and maintenance facilities, with plenty of space to expand.
In April we helped the West of England Combined Authority launch the new Westlink DRT (demand responsive transport) in the Bristol area. The Big Lemon operated eight of the distinctive green minibuses between April and August to help get the service going, and since August has continued to run a number of services on a more ad-hoc basis to help with driver shortages. Feedback from the DRT services has been very good, with many of them serving areas with no traditional fixed-route bus services.
In April we also launched improved timetables on our Brighton & Hove services, with evening services until 21.45 on route 16 and until midnight on routes 47 and 52; with additional Sunday services on routes 47 and 52 (replacing the 57). These services have been supported by Brighton & Hove City Council as part of the Bus Service Improvement Plan, and have gone down a treat with passengers:
In May we ran what will probably be our final Walking Holiday, along the Suffolk Coast. We made the difficult decision to stop our Sunday Walks and Walking Holidays this year because of the significant resource requirement to plan, organise and run them. However we have thoroughly enjoyed doing them, and will miss them greatly.
Since 2017 we have walked the length of the South Downs Way and the Downs Link long distance trails, the Dorset Coast from Weymouth to Sandbanks, across the New Forest and three quarters of the way round the Isle of Wight. And this year we added to that list the Suffolk Coastal Path from Snape Maltings to Lowestoft; finishing at Ness Point, the most easterly point in the UK (with a minibus provided by our Coach team at Brighton Horizon Coaches).
In June we took over the operation of routes 84 and 85 from Stagecoach in South Gloucestershire, providing a reprieve for a service that was due to stop but continues with the help of funding from South Gloucestershire Council and Gloucestershire County Council. The service is a lifeline for many passengers and there is an active campaign on Facebook to save it. We are doing whatever we can to support passengers and local authorities find a way to continue the service for the longer term.
Meanwhile, in Brighton we celebrated Better Transport Week, with the focus this year on drivers. Driving a bus isn’t an easy job, and drivers do not always get the appreciation and understanding they deserve. There is so much to the job that often goes unnoticed – the driving of the bus is only one aspect of the job!
Before they go out in the morning drivers do the final safety check on the vehicle, ensuring each vehicle is fit for service; they then have to set up the ticket machine and destination display and get on their way, often dealing with antisocial driving from other motorists, badly parked vehicles and last-minute diversions, while all the time maintaining their cool and looking after the needs of their passengers.
We are very lucky to have a great team of committed staff in Brighton, Bristol, Hailsham (at our new Seaford & District depot) and at Brighton Horizon Coaches, who go above and beyond every day to give our passengers the best possible experience on the bus, and we are very grateful to all our staff for their hard work.
In July we took part in the London to Paris Electric Vehicle Rally, finishing at the Eiffel Tower after a nail-biting search for a compatible charger for our Higer bus. Because our Higer STEED buses are not very widespread in Europe, charging infrastructure in most places has never been programmed to charge them.
Following multiple unsuccessful attempts at all the well-known charging brands, we ended up calling our Dubin-based supplier Harris who spoke to the manufacturer Higer who spoke to Ionity who programmed the charger at Saint-Witz just north-east of Paris as our bus was arriving with just 8% left in the battery. Phew!
August saw the end of the road for our EV Car Hire business as insurance premiums per vehicle for the second year came in at over twice the annual revenue of the entire operation (two cars), despite there not having been any claims in the first year.
Obviously a sad end to what was a promising new initiative, but we’re glad we tried it and will always try new ways to provide a wider range of sustainable transport options for the community. Some will work, some unfortunately won’t, but that’s life… and if we never tried we’d never know!
The two cars have been re-purposed as staff shuttle vehicles, one in Brighton and one in Bristol.
In September we moved our Seaford & District operations into a new depot in Hailsham, running our East Sussex school routes from there, as well as double decker private hire, rail replacement services and engineering.
In October we fitted out our new workshop in Bristol to enable on-site vehicle inspections and servicing; and in December we opened applications for an experienced PSV technician to build our on-site engineering capability. Do you know any good PSV engineers in the Bristol area who are looking for an exciting new opportunity managing a workshop within a small friendly team?! We’d love to hear from them 🙂
In November we celebrated our 300th member on our Bristol Community Transport services, more than doubling the membership since the start of the year. Bristol Community Transport is operated by The Big Lemon in partnership with Brighton & Hove Community Transport, and we offer Dial-A-Ride, Shopping and Group Transport services to local community groups and people in Bristol who cannot easily access conventional public transport.
In December we held our AGM in the workshop in our Brighton depot, where our shareholders and bondholders joined us to see our progress over the last year and where shareholders elected the Board who are responsible for the running of the organisation. All nominated officers were elected, and our Board is currently comprised of Chair Ron Tanner, Founder & CEO Tom Druitt, Engineering Director John Bickerton, and Coach Services Director Ryan Wrotny.
Our day-to-day operations are overseen by General Manager Colin Morris, with support from our Operations Managers Charlotte Hautot (Brighton), Dave Smith (Hailsham), Jason Freeman (Bristol) and Stuart Francis (Bristol Community Transport); and our fantastic team of drivers, engineers and cleaners who keep the wheels moving every day.
Behind-the-scenes magic to ensure our bills are settled, staff paid, customer queries answered and everything recorded the way it should be is provided by Jane Tanner (Accounts), Diana Bednika (Finance), Sophia Spencer (Administration), Charlie Anstey (Bristol) and Stacey Potts (Bristol Community Transport).
We are hugely grateful for the support of our staff team and all our passengers, investors, suppliers and supporters; thank you for all your help and may you all have a very Happy New Year and a healthy and prosperous 2024 🙂
The Big Lemon is one of the most innovative independent bus operators in the UK, at the forefront of the electric bus revolution. We are building our technical capability with a new workshop for maintenance of our fleet of buses in Bristol, and have an exciting opportunity for someone interested in furthering their career with a leadership role in a brand new workshop in Bedminster.
The Big Lemon started operations in Bristol in October 2022, adding three services in Bath a month later. In April we moved into new premises in Parson St with fantastic facilities including workshops, fuel tanks, a bus wash and offices, and then in June we started running a service in South Gloucestershire too.
We are a Community Interest Company, with an ambitious vision for public transport in the UK, and our Bristol & Bath operations are a key part of this. We have a fleet of 8 service buses, seven minibuses and two cars, operating on local bus services and Community Transport. Currently the fleet is diesel-powered, but we have exciting plans to introduce electric buses to the Bristol fleet in 2024, and have recently kitted out our own workshop ready to improve operations by servicing on-site.
We are building a wonderful team of friendly, happy people, and are looking for an experienced PSV technician to build our on-site engineering capability.
We are looking for candidates with an eye for detail and a passion for excellence, who enjoy their work. Honesty, reliability and good teamwork underpin everything we do and the successful candidates will be first and foremost friendly, hardworking individuals with a commitment to the highest standards of vehicle safety.
In addition, ideally you will have the following
Main Responsibilities of the Role:
We are looking for someone who can:
The role is ideally suited to someone who has experience in the industry and is looking for a new challenge, taking on responsibility for a new workshop within a small and friendly team. In the beginning you will be working mainly alone in the workshop, although there will always be operational staff and supervisors on site to assist where necessary. In the future we aim to grow the workshop and take on another PSV Engineer to work alongside you.
Benefits:
The Big Lemon is an equal opportunities employer committed to diversity in the workplace and welcomes applications from all candidates regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, disability, religion or belief. We’re all different, and that’s a wonderful thing.
To apply for this role please send your CV with a covering letter to our Bristol office:
The Big Lemon, Rear of 137 Parson Street, Bedminster, Bristol BS3 5RB
or by email to hellobristol@thebiglemon.com
Alternatively if you fancy popping in for a cuppa and a chat to find out more, give us a call on 0117 244 7337.
We are delighted to confirm that South Gloucestershire Council have agreed to support the 84/85 bus service with funding until April 2024, when hopefully a more permanent solution can be found.
This has come after many months of campaigning by local residents, and recent discussions between The Big Lemon and South Gloucestershire Council. The service had been due to be withdrawn at the end of August but on Thursday last week councillors voted to support funding for the service for the rest of the financial year.
We’re really pleased that funding has been agreed to enable us to continue to run the service through to next year. The 84/85 bus is a vital community service, providing a lifeline to so many people in the area. A massive well done to campaigners working so hard to save the service, and huge thanks to South Gloucestershire councillors for listening to residents and working hard to secure the funding.
As a social enterprise, The Big Lemon exists to provide affordable, sustainable transport to local communities, so rather than maximise profits at the expense of communities, we aim to work with local authorities and the community to ensure bus services can be provided in the most affordable, sustainable and socially beneficial way, for as long as possible. We’re delighted that the 84/85 bus can continue, and will work with campaigners and the local authority to give it the best chance of a long-term future.
Tom Druitt, CEO
In response to passenger feedback and in consultation with the West of England Combined Authority, South Gloucestershire Council and Gloucestershire County Council, the timetable for the 84/85 service between Yate, Chipping Sodbury and Wotton-Under-Edge is being amended from Monday 26 June to enable more convenient return journeys.
The original timetable that has been running since 5 June had five anticlockwise journeys (85) and only one clockwise (84). This means that passengers doing a short journey from one village to the next, or to the nearest town, had to either find a different way home, or wait until the one journey in the afternoon that could take them home directly, or travel the whole way around the “wrong way”, taking over an hour and a half to do what should be a five or ten minute journey.
The new timetable has three journeys in each direction, allowing more frequent services between many destinations and much more convenient return journeys:
Monday 26th June 2023
The current service is planned to operate until Saturday 27th August, during which time South Gloucestershire Council will be consulting on its future. There is a proposal to extend it at least until the end of March 2024, and then if funds allow to continue it beyond that as well. As soon as we know more about the consultation and how people can engage with that, we will provide information here on our website.
The current contract is only for 12 weeks and this does not provide sufficient time to consult and then make changes. A decision had to made about what timetable to register with the Traffic Commissioner and in view of the passenger feedback so far and the obvious benefits of enabling convenient return journeys, all parties agreed that registering the timetable above would be more beneficial to passengers.
The current contract is only for 12 weeks and this does not provide sufficient time to consult and then make changes. A decision had to be made as to which timetable would be most useful to people to run until the end of August, and all parties agreed that the proposed timetable would be the most useful one.
After 12 years of running Sunday Walks every summer we have taken the difficult decision not to continue with the programme this year. It was a painful decision, and one we put off for a long time, because we still feel it’s important to offer leisure activities ‘off the beaten track’ to people who don’t have access to a private vehicle.
The purpose of our walks programme was to offer people in Brighton & Hove opportunities to access the countryside, especially parts that they cannot already access by public transport. For those without a car, it gave them access to weird and wonderful walks in areas largely inaccessible by public transport, and for everyone else it was a perfect opportunity to leave the car at home and not be restricted by having to do a circular walk. And every walk finished at the pub for a Sunday lunch and a well-deserved pint 🙂
In recent years we also added Walking Holidays to the programme, and last year ran our first ‘Walking Weekender’ too! Since 2017 we have walked the length of the South Downs Way and the Downs Link long distance trails, the Dorset Coast from Weymouth to Sandbanks, across the New Forest and three quarters of the way round the Isle of Wight. And this April we are heading to Suffolk to walk the Suffolk Coast Path between Snape Maltings and Ness Point, Lowestoft – the most easterly point of the British Isles.
All good things come to an end, however, and sadly this year we simply have too much going on to be able to run the walks programme again. If this changes in the future maybe we will do them again – who knows. They were a lot of fun, and we’ll miss them; and if one day we can resurrect them, we will… but only time will tell.
We would like to thank everyone who has supported our walks programme over the years, we have really enjoyed walking with you, and many of you are now dear friends. Many of our regular walkers have also started organising their own walks; if anyone was hoping to join Big Lemon walks this year and would like to be put in touch with a group of like-minded walking buddies let us know and we’ll put you in touch 🙂
And if you’re free from the 28th April to the 1 May come to Suffolk with us!
Last October we stepped in to run four bus services in Bristol at short notice following the bankruptcy of the previous operator, and then in November we stepped in again to run three services in Bath that had been withdrawn, leaving some communities without a bus at all.
These services are all supported bus routes (paid for by the local authority because they are socially necessary but not busy enough to be able to operate commercially) and were all on short term contracts that expire on 2 April. Two of these services we will continue to operate on a new four year contract, three will be operated by other operators, and sadly two have lost their funding altogether and will be withdrawn. The full list is as follows:
Bristol:
Bath:
We would like to extend a very warm thank you to all our passengers for your enthusiasm and kindness to us over the last six months, it has been a real pleasure to get to know you! We are also very proud that passenger numbers have grown every month since we started, showing how valuable and well-loved these services are. It was also great fun to bring our electric bus to Bath for the first month, it turned out to be a real hit with passengers 🙂
Obviously none of this would have been possible without an incredible team, and we’re immensely grateful for all their hard work. Mobilising at such short notice wasn’t easy, but everyone has worked incredibly hard to make it work, and they’ve really done us proud. Thank you Team Lemon, you’re amazing 🙂
We are also very excited to confirm that as part of our commitment to zero-emissions buses on all our routes (powered by renewables and owned by the local community) we are making plans to bring electric buses to route 515 in Bristol and route 20 in Bath, and will soon be releasing our investment brochure with details on how local residents and supporters can help us make this happen!
If you’d like to be first in the queue for information on investment opportunities please let us know below:
We have vacancies in Brighton and Bristol, with excellent rates of pay and the chance to make real difference in your community; working in a fun team with wonderful colleagues 🙂 Drop us a line if you’re interested!
What a year that was! Many will be glad to see the back of 2022, and it was certainly a difficult year for the bus industry, with lots of uncertainty and a number of high-profile industry casualties.
Two of the biggest ones, Bournemouth Transport (more commonly known as Yellow Buses) and HCT Group (a social enterprise like The Big Lemon) have a special place in The Big Lemon’s story. In the very early days of The Big Lemon, our fleet was at one stage exclusively made up of ex-Yellow Buses vehicles, three East Lancs Dennis Darts, registrations M451 LLJ, M455 LLJ and M461 LLJ. The main reason, obviously, was that apart from being available at the right time, these vehicles were already yellow. They served us well for a number of years, and one of them (M455 LLJ) has survived and has been put back into its original Yellow Buses livery by an enthusiast.
HCT Group became a part of our story for a different reason. As a well-established social enterprise with operations across the country and a strong record of social impact reporting, HCT Group became something of an inspiration to The Big Lemon. We first came across HCT at the UK Social Enterprise Awards in 2012, where their CEO, Dai Powell, won Social Enterprise Leader of the Year, and then again at the same awards in 2016, where we won Environmental Social Enterprise of the Year. HCT enjoyed a fantastic reputation in both the social enterprise community and the bus industry and for many years showed everyone what a real community bus service looked like. Their demise is a huge loss to the sector, but in a strange twist of fate it also created an opportunity for The Big Lemon to launch operations in Bristol and we are delighted that the old HCT team in Bristol helped us form our own team there.
For The Big Lemon, 2022 has been quite a milestone. It was the year we took supplies to Ukraine, the year we ran fully electric all day for the first time, and the year we launched The Big Lemon in other communities outside Brighton & Hove for the first time. We would like to thank all of our staff, our passengers, customers, suppliers and all those who have supported us and made the year a success. Thank you and Happy New Year!
January: The launch event for the second London to Brighton EV Rally on Brighton Seafront:
February: Staff training with a team photo in front of the old Gasworks:
March: Our coach company, Brighton Horizon Coaches, helped transport supplies donated to St Andrews Church in Hove, to London for delivery to Ukraine:
April: We worked with Sussex Homeless Support to collect supplies from people across Brighton & Hove, and then took them to Ukraine. We then brought refugees back to the UK on the way back:
May: Our annual Walking Holiday took us to St Martha’s Hill near Guildford, from where we walked along the Downs Link trail to Shoreham. over four days.
June: on Clean Air Day, 16th June, we ran a fully electric bus service all day on all our public bus routes for the first time – something we have been working towards since 2016:
…then a week later it was time for the second Big Lemon London to Brighton Electric Vehicle Rally:
July: We launched our EV Car Hire – for those trips that buses just can’t do!
August: Brighton Pride – our driver Debbie organised a bus to enable older and disabled members of the gay community to take part in the float. Our other driver, Mark, drove the bus while Debbie DJed:
September: For the first time since before Covid, we ran the buses once again for the annual Happy Startup Summer Camp – and what a happy weekend it was!
October: In 2017 we launched our 2030 Vision: to enable every community in the UK to have affordable public transport run with zero emissions vehicles powered by renewable energy and owned by the community. In June we managed to run all our Brighton routes with zero-emissions buses for the first time, and in October we took the first step towards bringing zero-emissions community bus services to other communities, with our launch in Bristol:
November: New projects are like buses – you wait ages and then two turn up at once! Following the launch of our bus services in Bristol in October, in November we launched in Bath as well:
December: And that’s it! Another year has passed, and after three Christmas parties we are now looking forward to 2023 🙂 Massive well done to our team and thank you all for your hard work; thank you to our passengers for your support and we wish you all a very Happy New Year!
Hot on the heels of our launch in Bristol in October, The Big Lemon will start operations in Bath on Monday 28 November, running three much-needed bus services previously operated by First.
The routes will operate Monday to Saturday, excluding bank holidays:
Route 11 – Bath Bus Station to Bathampton
Route 12 – Bath Bus Station to Haycombe Cemetery
Route 20 – University of Bath to Twerton
The West of England Combined Authority is helping fund the supported bus service, which will offer a range of competitively priced tickets, consistent with other bus operators in the region, for children, adults and groups of five, including day and week tickets. The Big Lemon will also accept BathRider and AvonRider tickets issued by other operators, along with concessionary Diamond Travelcards.
Due to the short timeframe for commencing the service in Bath, The Big Lemon will initially use diesel buses, while we develop a plan to transition to zero emission electric buses, which will be powered by renewable energy and owned by the community.
Councillor Sarah Warren, deputy leader and cabinet member for Climate and Sustainable Travel at Bath & Northeast Somerset Council, said:
“I am delighted that The Big Lemon is launching in Bath later this month. The company will run the much needed, and much missed, 11, 12 and 20 bus routes, which stopped operating in October, when First Bus withdrew from its contract.
“Bath & North East Somerset Council has worked incredibly hard over the past few months to develop a long-term, sustainable plan to restore our vital bus services. The Big Lemon’s ethos of providing a community focused, environmentally friendly and innovative bus service aligns perfectly with our own ambitions to not only be carbon neutral by 2030, but also ensure our local communities have an affordable and sustainable bus service.”
Belinda Nicholls, Bristol & Bath Operations Manager for The Big Lemon, said:
“We are very excited to be expanding our operation into Bath. The Big Lemon is passionate about providing an excellent passenger experience on all our buses and our drivers in Brighton and Bristol have become famous for their friendly and helpful service. We look forward to bringing the same ethos to our new services in Bath.
“These are essential community routes and relied on by so many people, and it is fantastic that we can have a positive impact on their day to day lives. The feedback and comments that we have already received are heart-warming. We cannot wait to get out on the road and meet our new passengers.”
To find out more about the new service and its timetables, visit www.thebiglemon.com/bath
The Big Lemon is looking for qualified PSV drivers to drive routes 11, 12 and 20, as well as all our Bristol routes 505, 506, 515 and 516.
As well as excellent rates of pay, a welcome bonus and free membership of the Transport Benevolent Fund, we offer the opportunity to work in a small family team where everyone is a name, not a number; and we all work together to do our best for our colleagues and for the community.
If this sounds like something you’d like more info on, please fill in the form below 🙂
The Big Lemon is delighted to confirm that services will commence in Bristol from Monday 3rd October on the following routes:
The Big Lemon is passionate about providing an excellent passenger experience on the buses and excited by the opportunity to launch in Bristol. Our drivers in Brighton are famous for the friendly and helpful service they provide, and we are really looking forward to bringing the same ethos to our services in Bristol.
Our fares are in line with the requirements of the West of England Combined Authority and consistent with those of other operators in the region.
The BristolRider ticket gives unlimited access to all bus services in Bristol regardless of who they are operated by, and the AvonRider gives unlimited access to all bus services in the wider area including Bath and North East Somerset, Weston Super Mare and North Somerset.
The Big Lemon is looking for qualified PSV drivers to drive routes 505, 506, 515 and 516. As well as excellent rates of pay, a welcome bonus and free membership of the Transport Benevolent Fund, we offer the opportunity to work in a small family team where everyone is a name, not a number; and we all work together to do our best for our colleagues and for the community.
If this sounds like something you’d like more info on, please fill in the form below 🙂
To keep up to date with news of our Bristol operation please follow @TheBigLemon on Twitter and Facebook.
Charge your vehicles – following the runaway success of the inaugural event in September 2021, the second London to Brighton Electric Vehicle Rally, sponsored by EDF, will now be going ahead tomorrow, Saturday 25th June 2022. In association with the RAC, JLC Group, 3ti and the University of Brighton the Rally will leave from Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, London at 7.00am and cover 59 miles, before finishing on Brighton Beach. All entries will stop at Ifield College near Crawley for a breakfast and adjudication before continuing to Brighton.
Tom Druitt, Co-founder of the event and CEO of The Big Lemon CIC has big things in store for the day:
“Following the success of our inaugural Rally last year we now have a bigger and better event to look forward to on the 25th June! We will be welcoming 67 different vehicles in 11 different categories – from e-bikes all the way to buses, and all vehicles will be on display on Madeira Drive afterwards.
“The aim of the event is to demonstrate and celebrate the rapid development of electric vehicles and renewable energy technology and have a fun day in the process.
“We have some very interesting vehicles in our ‘self-build’ category, and we will be celebrating afterwards with an awards ceremony and after-party at the University of Brighton, with awards for the most efficient vehicles in each class and for the most innovative and most sustainable designs.”
The team are all incredibly excited to welcome such a diverse and strong display of Electric Vehicles and methods of transportation to the South coast. This year among the self builds there are solar cars and even an electric aircraft following the route to Brighton.
Spectators are invited to join the Rally at the halfway point at Ifield Community College and the finish line at Madeira Drive, Brighton, where all vehicles will be on display and cheered as they cross the finish line.
The E-village on Brighton Beach will encourage visitors to explore the electric way of life, with an array of interactive stands, live music and entertainment and displays from the UK’s leading EV companies, along with an education zone and test track area.
Visitors will have the opportunity to test drive one of The Big Lemon’s electric buses, ride the Volks Railway, drive converted classic cars and have a ride on the Brighton Zip. A children’s electric go-kart track will give the younger visitors the opportunity to get behind the wheel, whilst the Ardingly College sponsored education zone will help answer any questions and learn about the benefits associated with switching to electric.
As with last year our recovery partner is the RAC, the number-one for EV breakdown as it is the only UK breakdown provider to offer van-mounted, lightweight emergency mobile charging systems for EVs. Their expert patrols can use EV Boost to get a flat quickly sorted out or get a severely depleted EV on the move again. If you need a garage, the RAC’s All Wheels Up recovery system can be used to tow an EV safely with all four wheels off the ground.
JLC group, based in Hailsham, East Sussex are a main sponsor of the event this year and will be profiling their new electric commercial vehicles along with the incredibly fun NoSmoke 1960s inspired convertible. They will be hosting a VIP area at the Brighton Zip and will be displaying their latest state of the art commercial vehicles.
Partnered with YouTube sensation “Fully Charged” the rally will start at 7.00am in London. There will be a mid-point stop at Ifield Community College from 8.00am and then the vehicles will be on display on Madeira Drive, Brighton from 10.00am until 4.00pm. The coveted awards ceremony will take place tomorrow, 25th June at Elm House, University of Brighton with awards for participants with the lowest energy consumption and general performance across all categories.
Categories for the rally include:
“We would like to thank all the event’s partners and sponsors for their support, without their help this year’s event would not be possible.”
Bill Harrison, Event Director and Co-Founder
Our partners include: The Big Lemon CIC, EDF, JLC Group, RAC, Fully Charged, University of Brighton, Current PR, Hendy, 3ti and Drive Electric.
