A massive bus driver recruitment campaign has been launched across Greater Manchester to get ready for the Bee Network.
Only a matter of weeks after the first bright yellow Bee Network buses started hitting streets across the region, with more and more being spotted out and about by locals as the days go on, Go North West has today kicked-off Britain’s biggest-ever recruitment campaign for bus drivers ready for the Greater Manchester public transport service to officially launch later this year.
And you might recognise it’s taken inspiration from a certain 80s cult-classic action film for it.
With the Bee Network set to be rolled-out in September, the transport company – which was selected by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) in late 2022 as the winner of its first two bus contracts – has big plans to hire up to 300 new drivers for its ‘Elite Bus Driver Academy’.
Themed as ‘Be an Elite Driver’, with Maverick and the rest Top Gun team serving as some worthy inspiration, the recruitment campaign sees existing Go North West bus drivers all dressed up in fighter pilot-style uniforms in an attempt to “bring to life the prestige of being a driver” and the different types of careers on offer for people.
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Britain’s ‘biggest ever’ bus driver recruitment campaign launches in Greater Manchester / Credit: Go North West
The recruitment campaign encourages those interested to become “the best of the best”, to find the thing that “makes them awesome”, and to brace themselves for a career with “wheels…that you’ll steer”.
Open both to existing bus driver licence holders and to those who have never sat behind the wheel of a bus before, applicants will undertake a six-week intensive training programme, and will operate routes across Bolton and Wigan – which are the first two areas to be franchised under TfGM and Mayor Andy Burnham’s new integrated London-style vision for local buses.
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Bus driver jobs include 20 days’ annual holiday, generous pensions, and pay rates that quickly increase with experience.
Successful applicants will get to earn themselves upwards of £28,000 per year.
Not only that, but Go North West is also going to be offering longer-term apprenticeships that combine studying with hands-on driving to allow people to “earn while they learn”.
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Having quadrupled the size of its training team in anticipation of an influx of new recruits, Go North West says it’s “excited” for this new chapter for bus travel in the region.
Speaking on the recruitment campaign’s launch, Nigel Featham – Managing Director of Go North West – said the company is “very proud” to be delivering these bus services for Greater Manchester, adding: “This is a groundbreaking recruitment campaign to match the huge scale of change that we’ll be helping to deliver in Greater Manchester’s public transport.”
“We’ve already had lots of interest in driving the new Bee Network buses and we’re expecting thousands of applications.”
What the Bee Network buses will look like across Greater Manchester / Credit: TfGM
Once the new contracts are underway, Go North West will operate more than 500 buses from Bolton and Wigan, as well as from its existing Queen’s Road depot in central Manchester – with the company’s facility in Bolton being the largest UK bus depot outside London.
Fancy it then? Find out more about becoming a Bee Network bus driver and apply here.
Featured Image – Go North West
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Huge tunnel through the Peak District linking Manchester and Sheffield moves one step closer
Daisy Jackson
Ambitions plans to build a tunnel beneath the Peak District to connect Manchester and Sheffield has moved a step closer.
The proposed tunnel, which could completely transform travel between the two cities, has received a major £500,000 funding boost.
Picture the Eurostar, but plonk it going across the Pennines instead of London to Paris.
If it all goes ahead, journeys between South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester would be much quicker and easier, cutting times by up to 30 minutes, The Sheff reports.
The whopping £500,000 funding has been secured by infrastructure group Future Works, which is behind the proposed Trans-Pennine Connect scheme.
The money will be used to carry out technical and environmental feasibility studies to establish whether the project could actually go ahead.
The plans would see a 14-mile dual-carriageway tunnel built underneath the Peak District, potentially running between Langsett in South Yorkshire and Hollingworth or Tintwistle in Greater Manchester.
Michael Dnes, Future Works co-founder, said: “We’re very excited to be working with UK Dynamism Fund to unlock the next stage of our project.
“This funding will let us complete the technical and environmental feasibility studies needed to get the right outcomes for people and the Peak District as we deliver better transport connections across the Pennines.”
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has previously voiced his support for the proposals, describing them as a “really exciting opportunity”.
Speaking at a South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority meeting back in September, he said: “We all know the frustrations of travelling between two of the North’s biggest and best cities.”
He also stressed that any plans would need to take environmental considerations very seriously, particularly the impact on wildlife in the Peak District.
The project is still in very early stages, and the funding doesn’t indicate that planning has been approved. We’ll keep you updated with any updates as and when we know.
So, what do you make of this proposal? Would you be keen for a drive through the tunnel?
Town just outside Greater Manchester named one of UK’s ‘happiest’ places to live
Emily Sergeant
The UK’s happiest places to live for 2026 have been named, and a town just outside Greater Manchester is in the top 10.
Just as it has done for the last 14 years now, Rightmove has published its annual ‘Happy at Home’ index, which explores exactly what it is that makes people feel content about where they live, and highlights the happiest places nationwide ahead of the new year.
This year, thousands of residents across more than 200 locations told the leading property listing platform what they love (or don’t love) about their community – from the friendliness of their neighbours, to job opportunities, access to green spaces, and so much more.
The survey also outlines the differences in happiness in rural, urban, and suburban environments, as well as the way our sense of ‘home happiness’ changes as we age.
So, where do we have in the top 10 then?
Well, Skipton in North Yorkshire – last year’s winner – only ranked seventh in this year’s study, making way for Richmond upon Thames in London to take the coveted stop spot, but looking a little further down the list, you’ll find the Lancashire town of Chorley in sixth place.
Closest to the Bolton and Wigan boroughs, Chorley is about a 40-minute drive outside of Manchester, and sits on a direct train route into the city centre.
The UK’s top 10 happiest places to live 2026
Richmond upon Thames
Harrogate
Cirencester
Monmouth
Hove
Chorley
Skipton
Llandrindod Wells
Horsham
Hexham
With a deep legacy rooted in the Industrial Revolution, Chorley is now a popular place to live full of amenities, good local schooling options, and convenient transport links – with an average property price of £234,387, and average rent costing £1,011 per month.
When it comes to the wider rankings, and the North West ranking as a whole, two Greater Manchester towns made it into the region’s top five, Stockport at number two and Altrincham following right behind at number three.
Other of the region’s inclusions like Bury, Bolton, Wigan, and the Manchester borough itself all ranked towards the bottom.
Speaking on this year’s list, Colleen Babcock – a property expert at Rightmove – explained: “The balance between greenery and everyday convenience runs through the wider findings. Even among people who would ideally choose a rural setting, access to amenities, parks and public transport remains important.
“This year’s results suggest that the places people rate most highly aren’t simply urban or rural, but often bring together some of the best elements of both.”
Emily Sergeant -
25th May 2023 
