After 45 years on the buses with ‘The Yellows’, John Sedgwick was presented with a certificate to mark his retirement – but was persuaded to return.
Mr Sedgwick is one of the company’s most senior drivers and is making a return in the summer to drive the open toppers. After leaving the RAF John has joined the Yellows company as a conductor then trained as a driver and ever since then he’s been behind the wheel.
The 73-year-old from Bournemouth was also the driver of the staff bus which picks up drivers in the early hours. John said: “My wife Eileen would drive me in at 2:30 in the morning so I could drive the staff bus.
“I’d then do my shift and I be asleep in an arm chair by 6pm. Since I started, there is a lot more traffic but the buses are so much better – and warmer. The management is also much more approachable now than when I started.
“It’s been a great job and has paid my mortgage and I’ll be back for the summer season.”
The service delivery director, Phil Pannell, who was part of the management team that has recently bought out the company from its French owners, said: “We’re delighted John is coming back. After 45 years some might think he’d have had enough but we’re lucky that one of our most experienced and senior drivers will be on the open-top service next year.
“When he joined us it was the year of the three day week and the Watergate Scandal. He has been a dedicated, committed and dependable driver who not only has the driving skills, but the customer service skills as well.”