Regarding Sarah Longair

Sarah Longair graduated from HWU in 2002 with a degree

in Mathematics and Finance, and is now the youngest

Operations Director at Stagecoach UK Bus.

Her chosen course was extremely relevant to her eventual

career: “the statistical maths I studied has been particularly

useful in terms of managing passenger growth.”

In her 4th year, Sarah was accepted on the Stagecoach

graduate recruitment programme and has risen swiftly to

her current position as Operations Director for the West of

Scotland. Sarah attributes much of her success to her time

at Heriot-Watt, in particular the opportunities for selfdevelopment

and a strong person-centred approach from

her tutors. She recalls: “I learnt how to conduct myself, be

self-disciplined, motivated and know when to be serious.

HWU made me grow up. I still regularly see the friends I made

during this time. We all consider ourselves to be successful

and have gone on to work for a variety of leading Scottish

companies.”

One of the things that appealed to Sarah about Stagecoach

was the innovative and progressive culture. The graduate

training programme included a wide spectrum of

experiences from marketing to engineering and of course the

opportunity to learn how to drive a bus.

After rising through the ranks, with the assistance of the

Graduate training programme, things have moved full

circle as Sarah is now a trained Assessor for their Graduate

Assessment Centre. One exciting project that Sarah is to work

on in the coming months, as part of the UK Government’s Green Travel Plan, is a tax-free travel scheme which employers

can provide to their staff.

Sarah is delighted with where her degree has taken her, and is looking forward to a bright future with one of Scotland’s

biggest transport providers.

More information about the Heriot Watt Edinburgh Business School Alumni in Greece can be found here.