Tributes have been paid to Morebus boss Andrew Wickham who died at the weekend after a long illness.
He was 58.
Mr Wickham, who was made a MBE in January in the King’s New Year Honours, had been Managing Director of Go South Coast, which includes Morebus, since 2011.
Miguel Parras, Group Chief Executive of the Go-Ahead group, described Mr Wickham as a “fantastic colleague” who had made a big impression on the business.
He said the group would honour Mr Wickham’s legacy at the appropriate time.
Martin Dean, Go-Ahead’s Managing Director, UK Regional Bus, said: “I had the privilege of working with Andrew for 26 years.
“His enthusiasm and passion for serving his community was admirable and the loyalty of his team at Go South Coast is a testament to Andrew’s character.
“We will all miss him.”
Mr Wickham was an Operations Manager with London General before becoming Go-Ahead Group’s Development Manager under Chris Moyes.
When Wilts & Dorset was acquired by Go-Ahead in 2003, he became Operations Director beginning a 20-year association with the area.
He was Managing Director of Plymouth CityBus between 2009 and 2011 before returning to the south coast and remaining here as Managing Director ever since.
Under his leadership for the last 14 years, Go South Coast won multiple awards including Route One and UK Bus Awards ‘Operator of the Year’ accolades.
Go-Ahead said Mr Wickham’s expertise and leadership skills were most evident in 2022 when Yellow Buses went into administration potentially leaving large areas of Bournemouth without a bus service.
Mr Wickham and his team took over 80 buses worth of work with only a gap of 24 hours – a feat which was applauded and recognised by the local community, said Go-Ahead.