HE DEDICATED his whole career to bus engineering.

Now, Paul Denne is to retire from his managerial role at Stagecoach's depot in Winchester.

In 2020, he celebrated his 50 years of service to the company.

Richard Smith, engineering director said: "Paul has accrued over 50 years experience within the bus industry, having worked his way from apprentice to manager.

“Paul has been such a valued member of the team with many years of experience, knowledge and dedication and so will be missed by me and his colleagues. We wish him the very best for a long and happy retirement.”

Simon Drewery will replace Paul as engineering manager for Winchester and Andover.

He completed engineering apprenticeships with BAE Systems and Southern Vectis in the early 2000’s and has experience in both the PCV and HGV sectors.

Previously, Simon was deputy engineering manager at Bromley depot in London, and before that he was assistant engineering manager at Basingstoke until earlier in 2020.

Richard Smith added: "We are delighted to welcome Simon back to Stagecoach South. His extensive engineering knowledge will be invaluable in our commitment to continue modernising and improving our services and vehicles that we provide to our customers across Andover and Winchester."

Simon’s new position gives him the responsibility of managing the engineering function at the Bar End bus depot in Winchester, as well as overseeing the engineering facility at Andover supported by a team of skilled engineers and cleaners who together maintain a fleet of 95 buses.

In addition, Simon will also manage the Stagecoach vehicle repaint programme which includes all buses from a further seven depots across Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex.