Meet Douglas Robertson...
Founder & Director
Museum House Consulting was founded by Douglas Robertson, a passenger transport professional with more than 30 years of experience across bus and coach operations, commercial development, local government and senior business leadership.
Douglas has worked with major transport groups, independent operators and local authorities, with experience spanning operational management, network and timetable development, commercial strategy, fares, marketing, tendering, stakeholder engagement and organisational change.
Before establishing Museum House Consulting in 2025, Douglas spent ten years with Stagecoach East Scotland, including six years as Managing Director, with responsibility for around 1,300 employees, approximately 500 vehicles and annual revenues exceeding £100 million.
Today, that experience is applied directly to consultancy assignments for operators, local authorities and other organisations across the passenger transport sector.
A Career In Public Transport
Douglas began his career in the bus industry while still at school, undertaking work experience with Stagecoach in Fife before studying Business and Transport Management at the University of Northumbria.
His early career with Stagecoach Bluebird in north-east Scotland provided experience in both operational management and commercial planning across rural and urban bus networks.
He subsequently joined First Bus in the Scottish Borders before moving into local government with Falkirk Council's Public Transport Team. That role provided experience from the authority perspective, including tendered and school transport, public transport information, service development and partnership working with commercial operators.
Returning to bus operations, Douglas joined employee-owned Preston Bus, where his responsibilities covered network design, timetabling, scheduling, marketing, operations and organisational restructuring during a period of intense competition.
He later spent six years with Transdev Blazefield, progressing through Project Manager, Business Director and Commercial Director roles. His responsibilities included operations, engineering, commercial strategy, network development, marketing, stakeholder relationships and business growth across Lancashire and Yorkshire.
In 2015 Douglas returned to Stagecoach East Scotland as Commercial Director, leading network planning, fares, partnerships, marketing and customer services before being appointed Managing Director in 2019.
As Managing Director he led one of Scotland's largest regional bus businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent recovery, focusing on service reliability, changing travel patterns, fares simplification, workforce stability and rebuilding passenger demand.
That career has provided practical experience at virtually every level of passenger transport — from day-to-day operations and service planning through to board-level strategy and business leadership.
Museum House Consulting Today
Museum House Consulting was established in October 2025 to provide experienced, independent support to the passenger transport industry.
During its first year, the consultancy has undertaken assignments covering bus and coach operations, local-authority transport, commercial and operational reviews, organisational planning, fleet strategy, network development, customer experience and specialist project support.
Projects have ranged from supporting the transition of an established bus operation into local-authority ownership to reviewing commercial bus networks facing increased competition and examining the performance and passenger experience of airport and intercity coach services.
The approach is deliberately practical. Clients work directly with an experienced industry professional who understands both strategic decision-making and the operational realities of delivering passenger transport every day.
That means recommendations are developed not simply around what looks right on paper, but around what can realistically be implemented.
TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
TRAINING
2018 - 2019
Stagecoach Talent Programme
2012 - 2013
Veolia Transdev Business Management Programme
2008 onwards
PCV Driver CPC
1998
CPC National & International Road Passenger Transport | OCR
1998
PCV Driving Licence
1995 - 1997
HND Business and Transport Management | University of Northumbria
EXPERIENCE
2025 to present
Museum House Consulting;
Founder & Director
2015 - 2025
Stagecoach East Scotland; Managing Director | Commercial Director
2009 - 2015
Transdev Blazefield; Commercial Director | Business Director | Project Manager
2006 - 2009
Preston Bus; Operations Manager
2004 - 2006
Falkirk Council; Public Transport Officer
2001 - 2003
First Bus; Area Manager Scottish Borders
1998 - 2000
Stagecoach Bluebird; Planning Manager | Assistant Operations Manager | Management Trainee
INDUSTRY RECOGNITION
Scottish Transport Awards
Public Transport Operator of the Year; 2019 | 2020
UK Bus Awards
Top Shire Operator Silver; 2017 | 2019
New Horizons Silver Award; 2018
Marketing Excellence Silver; 2019
UK Coach Awards
Top Express Operations Gold Award; 2016 | 2017 | 2019
Innovation Gold Award; 2019
Making Coaches a Better Choice; 2019
Marketing Excellence Silver; 2017 | 2018 | 2019
Pride of Stagecoach - Scotland
October 2022 for 150th Open Golf Championships at St Andrews