First Bus joins CIM’s Company Affiliate Partnership Programme

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has announced a formal partnership with First Bus, which sees the transport operator join CIM’s Company Affiliate Partnership Programme.

As part of the programme, designed to enhance marketing capability and connect organisations with the best of CIM, First Bus’s marketing team will gain access to CIM’s professional development resources and open courses. This forms part of a broader development journey focused on building consistent marketing practices and upskilling – allowing First Bus’s marketing team to grow and develop as the business does.

By joining CIM’s Company Affiliate Partnership Programme, First Bus’s marketing team will gain CIM membership, unlocking access to CIM’s CPD programme, designatory letters, content, events and mentoring.

Following the announcement of this partnership, James Sutton, CIM’s Strategy and Commercial Director, commented:

“We are delighted to welcome First Bus to the CIM Company Affiliate Partnership Programme, the first of the ‘big six’ transport operators to partner with CIM in this way.

“Having seen how committed they are to building for the future, strengthening capability, supporting staff, and raising marketing standards, we are excited to embark on this journey with First Bus. We are also excited to provide them with access to resources and content that will not just keep their marketing team up-to-date with the latest developments in the sector, but ahead of the curve as the marketing landscape continues to evolve at speed.”

Virginia Barnes, Director of Marketing at First Bus, added:

“This partnership reaffirms our commitment to attraction, retention, and talent development, providing our marketing team with the resources and guidance required to elevate their capability and drive our organisation’s performance. We are particularly excited to embark on this programme with a reputable development partner like CIM.

“CIM will not only help to develop our individual marketers with CIM membership, but they will also help to make our team more collaborative and effective, providing them with transferable skills that can be used to drive organisational performance.”

As part of the partnership CIM will increase marketing capability at an individual and organisation level by:

• Delivering a range of training courses for individual staff
• Creating a marketing playbook to define what best practice marketing looks like within First Bus
• Running training sessions to drive consistency of methodology and approaches
• Helping the newly centralised marketing team develop standardised best practice
• Supporting First Bus’s marketers towards Chartered Marketer pathways

Alongside team capability initiatives and CIM membership, First Bus staff will also have access to an e-learning course and a dedicated Relationship Manager, while the organisation will be able to display the CIM Company Affiliate logo, showcasing their commitment to growing marketing talent.