Preston woman takes on major regional role for bus company

Janine Summers is now Regional Director North, replacing Michelle Hargreaves, who will be retiring in the summer after a 35-year career with the company.

Janine joined Stagecoach in 2021 as commercial operations director leading Stagecoach Solutions, the company’s transport solutions packages covering business bus services, corporate ticketing, on-demand services and education bus services.

She has in the past held senior positions at Virgin Media and Sky.

Originally from Manchester, she now lives in Preston with her daughter. In her spare time, she is a volunteer at NHS Chorley Hospitals Dementia Ward as a Saturday tea girl helping to provide the patients with another friendly face.

Carla Stockton-Jones, UK managing director for Stagecoach, said: “I’m delighted to be announcing Janine’s appointment as new Regional Director for the north.

“Janine is passionate about people and customers and with her breadth of experience and knowledge across a range of different customer service businesses, she will be absolutely central to helping to move our business forward and delivering on our business strategy.

“At the same time, we are sorry to be saying goodbye to Michelle Hargreaves, who is a well-respected and valued member of the Stagecoach team. Michelle will be really missed and we wish her all the best for a relaxing and enjoyable retirement.”

Janine said: “I joined Stagecoach just over a year ago and feel passionate about making a difference for our people, our customers and our operation. My personal mantra is to help make Stagecoach a better place by building a culture where we inspire extraordinary performance to unlock growth."