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become one
With the Vosa/DSA merger underway, CM catches up with Alastair Peoples to find out what he has in store for the new super agency By Laura Hailstone
COMBINING VOSA with the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) will create an organisation with 4,500 staff and an annual turnover of about £400m — but there is a lot of work to be done before the construction of the new agency is complete.
Former Vosa boss Alastair Peoples — the man tasked with creating the as-yet-unnamed combined agency — tells CM that it has been an interesting time since he was appointed chief executive of the organisation in June. "I've met with as many of the staff as I can from both organisations. I've done a series of road shows at both the
Vosa and DSA headquarters, as well as at a number of the larger DSA and Vosa regional locations.
"There are some concerns among staff about what this will mean for them. I've been explaining why the merger has come about; what the benefits of the merger are for both customers and staff; and also dealing head on with any perceived threats staff may have," says Peoples.
He describes the two agencies as having different cultures, and adds that they've evolved in two ways.
When Peoples took over as Vosa chief executive in 2009, the association had a deficit of £50m, which he committed to clearing within five years. "This is year four of Vosa's five-year recovery plan and I'm confident that by the end of year four [31 March 20141, the deficit will be cleared."
He says it will take a while for him to get to grips with the DSA, as it will understandably take the DSA some time to get used to his style. "I've tried to engage with as many people as I can, and I think the expectations from the rank at DSA are positive; they are anticipating good things. They don't know what yet, but there's an air of expectancy, so I hope we can live up to their expectations."
Staff opportunities
The merger will create a much larger organisation, which Peoples believes will create opportunities for staff to move into new areas. "I think it will unlock a lot of talent that has been held in both organisations for some time."
The date for the new organisation to go live is 1 April 2014, which Peoples is confident of meeting. "We've had the first meeting of the transitional directing board — a mixture of former DSA and Vosa directors make up this board of six, including myself. And we'll be looking to create a permanent board," explains Peoples.
He tells CM that existing board members will have the opportunity to apply to sit on the new organisation's board, which he wants to be high performing. "We don't want to be two organisations that get bumped together under a new name, but look and feel the same."
The all-important name
A big decision is going to be the name of the organisation. Peoples says the creative juices have been flowing and staff from both organisations have been asked to suggest what values both agencies need to have recognised in the new name. "Creating a new name is not as easy as me dreaming something up and imposing it," he says, "you have to consider what the acronym spells, is that domain name already registered? Does it sound like another organisation, etc? We've had lots of interesting suggestions; some of them very funny, some of them not so funny."
CM suggests Dosa. "I have heard worse ones than that," laughs Peoples. The rebranding of both agencies obviously comes with a cost, but Peoples says this will not get passed onto customers. "I'm committed that none of the costs associated with the merger will get passed onto our
customers. Both DSA and Vosa have done very well at keeping their costs low over the past five years, and we don't intend to stop doing that because we're merging."
Both agencies are set up as trading funds, which means that more than 50% of their revenue is derived from goods and services provided by the organisations. "We're looking at the legal requirements of closing both trading funds down and merging them," adds Peoples.
Common goals
Working groups comprising DSA and Vosa staff from a mixture of locations and specialisms, will also be created, to work through key themes and issues that the organisation needs to address. "As these working groups develop, we'll start to involve some of our industry groups, such as the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association, about whether the outcomes we are considering are in line with their views. It will be a powerful message if both the industry and the new organisation are trying to achieve common goals." Asked if he thinks combining the agencies makes sense, Peoples says: "I'm passionate about road safety, and I see
lots of common points in terms of driver safety and vehicle safety. The vehicle coming across the central reservation might be because of a defect but it's more likely because of driver error, so I think it's really good to have the two agencies in one portfolio. "I think it is fair to say that we have turned Vosa's reputation, finances, and outcomes around over the past four years, and there's an opportunity to bring that transformation agenda to DSA as well," he concludes. •