A total of 60 years working at Reading Buses has been totted up by three employees who are each celebrating two decades of service with the company.
Oliver Saunders, 56, whose home in Oxford Road is only 10 minutes from the Great Knollys Street depot ‘on a good day,’ was originally looking for a job not far from home.
“I have found it ideal,” he said today. “So I tried it out and everything was fine. It’s definitely an advantage not having far to travel to work.
“On early shifts I would pick up the children from school and I know a couple of months in advance of shift work so I can schedule my life around that. I come in and do what I need to do and it works out well.”
He drove across the network throughout the coronavirus pandemic and added: “They were normal days for me.”
Oliver, who has two children, is a keen photographer.
David Goorney, another driver to reach the 20-year service milestone with Reading Buses has compiled a comprehensive list of reasons for working as a bus driver.
Amongst the highlights of his career with Reading Buses, so far, he lists as key: meeting people and driving buses.
David, 51, is a familiar face to regular passengers on the town services, emerald, purple, claret and sky blue. “The role of a bus driver has given me a good standard of living and to those looking for an interesting job I can highlight a number of reasons for considering the bus industry,” he said.
“The role has offered me many benefits, including job satisfaction and security, a decent wage, pension, the ability to work different shifts and largely being my own boss.
“For those who no longer wish to sit at a computer screen all day, which I was previously doing before joining Reading Buses, it has provided a new career direction which has also included free on-the-job training as well as job security. It is a pretty good career path.”
Babar Kiyani was at the wheel of a taxi when he found himself behind a Reading Buses double deck advertising driver vacancies.
He wasn’t very happy driving a taxi so he thought he would apply to become a bus driver. He got the job – and has never looked back.
Today, Babar, 45, is celebrating 20 years’ service with Reading Buses, 15 of which have been night driving.
And whilst the majority of his service has been spent as a driver, it was during Covid that a promotion came along and he became a night time network supervisor.
For the last 18 months he has combined driving during the day with network supervising at night (not on the same days of course!). And his wife Feroza, who was the reason he came to this country from his native Pakistan to marry, also took up driving with Reading Buses 12 months ago.
Babar was two days into his job when his daughter, Rubana, now 20, was born and he and Feroza also have a son, Aryan, who is 18.
Babar has received three Reading Buses Star of the Month awards during his time with the company.
Of his 20 years’ service, he said: “It’s a beautiful job which I enjoy as much today as I did on day one and would recommend it.”
When he’s not at work, he enjoys cooking, mostly Asian food, at his home which is only two miles away from the depot.
Caroline Anscombe, HR Director, said: “Oliver, David and Babar have been wonderful employees for the last 20 years and each show how there is truly a path for everyone here.
“They’re all from very different walks of life, but each has found a working pattern that works for them, allowing them to build their careers around their lives.”
She added: “I’m proud of all three and look forward to working with them all for many more years to come.”