New director of human resources at Wrightbus, Ballymena man James Hamill
Leading zero-emission transport manufacturer Wrightbus has appointed a new director of human resources as its workforce continues to expand on the back of a bulging order book.
The appointment is a return to his roots for James Hamill, who was born and raised a stone’s throw from the Wrightbus headquarters in Ballymena. He lives across the golf course from the factory, his wife is from the town, his children attend the local school and his parents live about a mile away from his own home.
James has joined the Northern Ireland-based firm from global manufacturing firm Linamar, where he headed up HR for the European region which has 19 different production facilities.
“The big draw in joining Wrightbus was the opportunity of doing something in my hometown,” said James, who also spent 15 years at Michelin.
“It’s about bringing the pride of manufacturing back to Ballymena. The town has a proud manufacturing history but it has been scarred by closures in the past.”
Wrightbus has seen rapid growth since it was, itself, bought out of administration by green entrepreneur Jo Bamford in 2019. From having just 56 people on the books, the company is now on course for 2,000 employees by the end of the year.
That growth has been built on the back of orders in the UK and Europe, as well as the introduction of new developments such as a hydrogen fuel cell coach, in the pipeline for 2026.
Most recently, Wrightbus announced the signing of a landmark deal worth up to half-a-billion pounds to supply more than 1,000 buses to operators Go-Ahead over the next three years. The deal is the largest in its 78-year history, safeguarding 500 good green jobs and creating multiple training and upskilling opportunities.
“My role is about attraction and retention,” said James. “We have grown rapidly in a very short space of time, and now we need to make sure we have the right people for the right jobs.
“We have 62 apprentices at the moment with the plan to take that up to 100 in the near future,” said James.
“Skills shortage is still an issue, especially when you’re at the cutting edge like Wrightbus is. So if you don’t have the skills or they are difficult to get, you train them yourself, which itself promotes retention.”
Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Wrightbus, said:
“We are delighted to welcome James to the Wrightbus team. His experience in large manufacturing is exactly what we need as we continue to expand our workforce and our business as a whole.”