Member Article

£3 million investment stimulates 15% passenger growth at Newcastle's Cobalt

A £3 million investment in 17 new buses that serve Cobalt Business Park has paid dividends for the region’s largest bus company as it clocks up a 15% growth in passenger numbers on routes serving the park.

Go North East believes its new vehicles and numerous marketing initiatives, coupled with Cobalt recently welcoming two new tenants - Utilitywise and Siemens – have contributed to the boost in passenger footfall. The routes serving Cobalt, from destinations across the region, have seen a 15 percent revenue increase since this time last year. The most successful service being the Cobalt Clipper which serves Newcastle, Blyth and North Shields.

The bus firm has a partnership with the park’s operators and the developer, Highbridge, which allows for strategic planning of the bus network to adapt to new tenant requirements.

For example, Go North East recently introduced a new service direct from South Shields and Jarrow on the back of the Utilitywise move from South of the river. The company also introduced a new weekly ticket following discussions with staff as part of the move process.

Mark Ellis, development manager at Go North East, said: “At Cobalt we’ve got real passenger growth thanks to a combination of innovation and partnership working. Our 15 percent growth in bus use at Cobalt is down to a mix of our new buses, all of which have free Wi-Fi, power sockets and next stop announcements and great value fares.”

Mark continues: “By working in partnership, we’ve had the chance to speak to the new occupiers and share data which has led to us adding more journeys and new services.”

Cobalt’s transport links have been vital in connecting the region’s workforce to jobs at the site which claims a recruitment catchment of over 1.1 million people.

Recognition that accessibility would be an important factor in attracting investment led to the creation of an on-site travel centre with its own dedicated Travel Team in 2006.

The travel team has developed a comprehensive public transport network, including the flagship ‘Cobalt Clipper’ owned and run by Go North East.

Business development manager at the park, Lynn Cramman, said: “We have 600 bus services coming through the park daily, connecting to over 40 residential destinations.

“I think it would be difficult to create a business park of this size without having a significant bus provision – it is part of the package of sustainable transport.

“A lot of our younger workforce don’t have any current employment opportunities close to where they live so have to travel out of their area for work and often the only way they can do that is by bus.”

Tenants at Cobalt include Accenture, Proctor & Gamble, Hewlett Packard, EE and Santander.