Creating only the very best of impressions

Saturday 19th April 2025

Today’s post celebrates a true bus and rail industry legend who reached the milestone age of 75 yesterday.

To mark the occasion my good friend Ray Stenning was given a surprise birthday celebration with 30 close friends and colleagues door stopping his home/office in Shepherds Bush late yesterday morning on a suitably adorned open-top Routemaster operated by Ensignbus, but owned and driven by another good friend Martijn Gilbert, formerly managing director Go North East and, since 2022, managing director, Open Access, Tram & Cable (First Rail).

Along with Martijn, another close friend, Alex Hornby, Commercial and Customer Director, Northern Rail (and formerly CEO Transdev Blazefield) put together a day Ray would always remember and suitably mark the special anniversary of a creative genius.

My role was to be decoy, and in advance of springing the surprise, convince Ray to spend the day accompanying me on a tour of the seven stations located in nearby Acton for a supposed upcoming blog.

With precision timing, as Ray and I left his home in Shepherds Bush to commence our day’s tour, rather than the expected bus on route 218 to take us to the first station at West Acton, right on cue, along came Martijn driving the Routemaster, with everyone on the upper deck, giving Ray the surprise of his life as well as putting smiles on the faces of Good Friday shoppers in Askew Road.

After that initial shock for Ray, the surprises just kept on coming.

Thanks to Barry Le Jeune and John Kateley from the London Transport Museum Friends we headed to London Transport Museum’s Acton Depot where we were given exclusive access and a special guided tour of the fantastic collection of exhibits stored there – trams, trolleybuses, buses and Underground trains.

Appropriately enough, among the exhibits is one example of Ray’s early work from many years ago when he designed the livery for the first central area London bus route not to be operated by a traditional London Transport bus company, when Grey Green took on the tender for route 24.

In those days buses on tendered routes in London didn’t have to be red and Ray explained he supplemented the grey and green colours in the livery with an orange strip to represent the Orange Luxury Coach company also owned by Grey Green’s parent company at that time, George Ewer.

Thanks to our guides Keith Raeburn and Barry, we were given a fantastic opportunity to hear about the exhibits as well as see the impressive work carried out by volunteers from the Friends to restore a Q type Underground unit from 1935…

… and what a magnificent job they’re doing to.

Thanks also to Museum Friend Dave Taylor who also gave up his time, providing us with welcome refreshments which were supplemented by a wonderful cake from the Crafted Cake House in Leeds and which was kindly sponsored by Wrightbus…

… which Ray delicately and ceremoniously cut for us all to enjoy.

At the end of what had been a truly splendid visit another surprise was waiting for Ray in the form of the wonderfully preserved GS64 parked round the back of the Depot to take us to a local venue for a celebratory lunch and was kindly driven by Mark Chapman.

Ray’s association with London Transport’s Country Area GS type dates back to travelling to school on route 464 as a child so Martijn and Alex had arranged a suitable destination blind to be screened up at the rear for that nostalgic sentimental touch.

This, along with the special destination blinds and graphics on the Routemaster, were possible thanks to John Hartley at McKenna Brothers, who joined in the celebrations yesterday, and as you can see, the results looked absolutely splendid especially when you see the rough drawing he and the cake maker had to work from as supplied by Martijn!

Thanks also to Jon Batchelor, another Museum Friend who gave up his time to help with driving the Routemaster later in the day. Everyone had been only too pleased to be involved, such is the esteem in which Ray is held.

It was then time for a group photo with thanks to Mark Lyons for taking on the role of the ‘official photographer’ for the day.

The whole party then enjoyed a lovely late lunch which had been kindly sponsored by three suppliers to the bus industry: Altro Flooring, Ignite Vehicle Services and Reads Commercials – who all willingly did so knowing the great work Ray does for the bus sector, and we thank them for their support and helping give Ray the day of his life.

Some readers unfamiliar with Ray and his work might at this point be thinking this all sounds a bit over-the-top but that would misjudge just what an inspiration and impact Ray has had on the transport industry for decades. He’s been an unsung hero for far too long, as he truly is an industry hero.

Simply put, Ray has been transforming the way buses and trains look for over 40 years, and he’s done so with gusto, passion and complete dedication to the cause, working seven days a week from early morning until into the evenings from his home/office in Shepherds Bush.

He first cut his teeth on a livery for Weston-super-Mare based coach operator Bakers Dolphin in 1983. And just to show how enduring Ray’s designs are, that company’s coaches still wear that same livery today. He then established his creative design agency, Best Impressions which has become synonymous with the very best livery designs on Britain’s buses and trains for the past four decades.

And it’s not just liveries, Ray is passionate about the whole approach to branding and presentation to communicate the values and ethos of each business he works with. “Branding is much more than just liveries”, he always rightly reminds clients.

It’s not surprising those working in the industry who share his passion for making bus and train travel a desirable product turn to Ray, and his team of like minded staff, to create designs which will attract passengers and who’ll be proud to be seen travelling time and time again.

The Best Impressions team led by Ray know how to bring that ethos to life in a professionally designed and attractive package of branding which not only includes liveries, logos, leaflets, maps, timetables, posters, websites, and much more, but crucially, the design, layout and finishing touches to interiors including seating, lighting and floors.

It’s no exaggeration to say much of today’s attractive interiors to be found on new buses over the last few years owe much to Ray’s dogged determination to break the mould of what had almost become institutionalised intransigence by vehicle manufacturers to produce anything above and beyond their outdated bog-standard finishes.

There’s been a sea change in approach in recent years and there’s no doubt the high standards of comfort and design now enjoyed in many bus interiors, which leave trains in the shade, are thanks to Ray’s resolve.

And it’s not just buses. Ray’s work can still be seen out on the tracks with his take on the East Coast brand for the Virgin/Stagecoach era, still to be seen on Mark 4 coaches in use by LNER…

… as well as examples of his splendid liveries for South West Trains and London Midland (two great brands he developed) which still live on until they’re superseded by successor contract holders South Western Railway and London Northwestern. More recent assignments have included work for Northern, Lumo and Hull Trains.

Chatting to many of the friends and colleagues who came along to yesterday’s celebration you soon see just how much Ray’s work is appreciated. Alex Hornby told me “Ray gets it without even thinking about it. Challenging and inspiring us as an industry to be better than it could possibly ever be without him”.

Martijn Gilbert added “Ray is an Industry Legend who’s inspired fresh thinking and creativity and rightly challenges anything that’s not right for customers”. Robert Williams, CEO Reading Buses told me “Ray cares about the details, not many others care about”, and David Lee-Kong, Operations Director, Go South Coast added “our streets are more attractive thanks to Ray who brings his designs to life”.

James Freeman, retired managing director, First West of England said “Ray has led the way in creating bolder, fresher images for operators all over the country” adding also how Ray helps support the Friends of the King Alfred “by creating a top quality brochure for our annual Running Days in Winchester on a voluntary, entirely free, basis”.

And Ray is also in the vanguard of encouraging the younger generation in the Industry for example helping entrepreneur Dan Graham (pictured above) with design support for his recently established Northstar bus company. Dan told me “I’ve worked with Ray for almost a decade, and I truly believe I wouldn’t be where I am today without his support. He really can turn a vision into a reality, and improve a company’s status with both customers and stakeholders.”

There’s so much more Ray does on a voluntary basis including designing and producing the London Transport Museum Friends magazine every quarter…

… and he also edits the bi-monthly and hugely popular Classic Bus magazine which so many comment on just how wonderful each edition looks.

Ray’s excellent work was recognised by the Industry in 2015, when he received a special award to mark the 20th Anniversary of the UK Bus Awards and quite right too, bearing in mind so many award winning companies have themselves won awards over the years helped by the work of Ray and his team at Best Impressions.

It would be invidious to compile a ‘Top 25’ of Ray’s best liveries as beauty is in the eye of the beholder and frankly, there are no liveries he’s designed which you could put in a ‘bottom 25’. So, instead having chatted with him over the last few weeks about his 40+ year career, I’ll conclude this special tribute blog, by leaving you with 25 of the most endearing and enduring liveries he has created, shown in alphabetical order.

Bakers Dolphin

Beachcomber (East Yorkshire)

Boro’line (Maidstone Borough)

Brighton & Hove

Cityzap (Transdev Blazefield)

Cuckmere Buses

East Rider (East Yorkshire)

Exmoor Coaster (First South West)

King’s City (Stagecoach South, Winchester)

London & Country

London Midland

Metro (Liverpool City Region)

Midland Mainline

more bus

Purbeck Breezer (more bus)

Reading Buses (Lion – just one example of many)

Route 36 (Harrogate Bus Company/Transdev Blazefield)

Sapphire (Arriva)

Scottish Citylink (6 cities but also 900 and Airlink)

Sherpa’r Wyddfa

South West Trains

Southern Vectis

The Lakes Connection (Stagecoach route 555)

TrentBarton (Red Arrow – just one example of many)

Witchway (Transev Blazefield)

Yorkshire Tiger

The foregoing examples of superb designs demonstrate just how much Ray has brightened up Britain’s streetscape (and tracks) over the last 40 years, and, as he always reminds us, create desire.

Many congratulations on your 75th Ray, and thanks for all you do to raise the quality bar for buses and trains. We all appreciate it, and long may it continue.

And finally, a huge thanks to Martijn and Alex for organising the special day for Ray and us all yesterday..

Roger French

PS: The ‘Place With Seven Stations’ blog will become a reality one day – and I’m sure Ray will still be up to join me on the tour despite being hoodwinked yesterday.

Blogging timetable: Bonus blogs are appearing daily over Easter and then TThS