As he retires from his role as engineering director of Nottingham City Transport, Gary Mason speaks to JAMES DAY to provide a retrospective of his career and thoughts on positive change in the industry
In December 2021, 30-year industry veteran Gary Mason, engineering director of Nottingham City Transport (NCT), announced his retirement.During his time working on buses, he ran engineering teams and depots at National Express, helped transform the fortunes of Veolia Transport when it was struggling with National Express coach contracts, and saw NCT win multiple industry-leading awards.
However, most of Mason’s early career was spent in the automotive industry. He started out with Ford, going through university as a technician apprentice and training as a machine tool fitter.
After graduating, he worked for Ford at a foundry in Lemmington for two years, before spending a further five at Ford Dagenham, the company’s engine division.
“I started to feel I needed a change,” he said. “All my training had been in the automotive industry, as had my work up until then.
“I took a job as engineering manager at a battery manufacturer in Redditch. I was there for a while, but missed the cut and thrust of the automotive industry.”
