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Interview With Wightlink CEO Katy Taylor

The Wightlink CEO has been speaking to Isle of Wight Radio about a range of subjects this week.

Katy Taylor took over as Wightlink's CEO in August, and has been discussing her role so far and plans for the future.

She took the reins after Keith Greenfield retired following nine years at the helm of the Isle of Wight ferry firm.

What challenges have you faced  in your role so far Katy?

The biggest challenge is trying to make sure I'm doing a good enough job for everybody, while probably not doing a good enough job for anybody.

I've really enjoyed it and it's always nice working to do something that makes a difference.

It matters to the 600 people who work for us, to our communities and to all of our passengers and customers.

 

Have there been any unforeseen challenges?

One of the things I'm trying to do is bring a change in approach to how we do things.

I recognise there was some negativity towards Wightlink from people like the Wightlink User Group, so the first thing I've done is to try and get out and listen to people.

 

Did any concerns come to light during the recent Customer Forum?

The main concerns we had were around customer fares and affordability.

One of the ways we're supporting customers is through our multi-link product, which is very good value at less than £30 per journey.

We're also rolling out something called 'PayPal in Three', which allows customers to pay for their multi-link book in three instalments.

The Multi-link loyalty scheme is giving more opportunity to get vouchers for friends and family.

Meanwhile, we've launched the best value fare finder, which allows people to see which are the best times and days to travel.

We also talked about sailings, so we now run passenger ferries from 5am to 11pm, historically people were concerned (about not being able to get a ferry when they needed it) but now we run at the times passengers want to travel.

For a few days over Christmas we're also running mini-buses to take foot passengers from the ports in Ryde and Portsmouth.

 

What was your background before you took on this role?

Prior to this I did three years at Southern Water in customer roles, where I looked at investment and improvements.

I did nine years at Go Ahead before that, running buses and trains including Southern Vectis and Southern Railway.

 

Wight Gateway Limited has revealed plans for a new, all-electric Ryde to Portsmouth ferry service — do you welcome the competition?

It's fine to have anybody else to compete, it's going to be hard to compete with the level of service we provide and number of passengers we transport.

I know Red Funnel has struggled with performance recently.

It's in everyone's interest to have the best of all operators running the most services they can at any time, as it makes it more attractive for tourists.

It's essential we have people coming across to the Island to sustain businesses and accommodation over here.

 

Prominent figures, including former MP Bob Seely, have demanded the Island's ferry services become 'better and cheaper' — how do you react?

We run 98.6% reliability and 97% punctuality so obviously there's room to grow — but not a lot, it's pretty good.

Where we can do better is (for example) if two back-to-back ferries are cancelled for someone, how do we let (them) know? How do we go about getting them a refund?

Regarding better fares, it's about £29 for a multi-link car ferry, which in nobody's book is expensive.

I feel like we've really heard and responded to those challenges Bob and others have posed to us.

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