Jonathan Ziebart named Ascendal Managing Director, UK

Jonathan Ziebart has been named Managing Director, UK, by Ascendal Group. The role sits alongside his existing responsibilities as Group Business Development Director and he takes charge of the Whippet business in Cambridgeshire, alongside initiatives to grow Ascendal’s UK undertakings with an eye on the reregulation of bus services in parts of the country.

Mr Ziebart’s transport career began with FirstGroup before a move to Tower Transit. He was part of the team that founded Ascendal Group in 2018 and has been responsible for the deployment and delivery of a growth strategy that has seen expansion across three continents. He has also held a senior position with Bravo Transport in Hong Kong.

As Ascendal UK MD, Mr Ziebart takes responsibility for Whippet’s three core business units: Universal, FlixBus and ‘Blues’.

Universal captures the eight-year contract for an eponymous bus route operated under contract to the University of Cambridge, and which will be converted to Mellor Sigma 12 battery-electric buses in September. The FlixBus operation involves five-year contracts with the scheduled coach service provider, and ‘Blues’ relates to rural bus routes.

“A key part of my new role will involve continuing to build key relationships across the UK with a view to further growing Ascendal’s business. This will likely be in the form of both organic growth – bidding for tenders and franchises – and strategic acquisitions,” says Mr Ziebart.

“In parallel, I will continue to hold my position as Group Business Development Director across Ascendal Group internationally. Ever since playing a key role as part of the founding team behind Ascendal, I have held responsibility for the Group’s corporate, strategic and business development efforts, including leading all bids. This will continue alongside my MD UK role.”

Ascendal Group Founder and Executive Chairman Adam Leishman – who first worked with Mr Ziebart at Tower Transit in 2016 – has credited him with having greatly contributed to “an impressive growth profile for Ascendal Group.”

Mr Leishman adds: “As Group Business Development Director, Jonathan has fundamentally contributed to the expansion of Ascendal Group, which has seen an almost 400% growth in revenue in four years, including over the pandemic period.

“In addition, Jonathan played a pivotal role in Ascendal Group securing the operating partner contract to run Citybus in Hong Kong, an operation with annual revenues of approximately £300 million, while moving over one million people per day in the world’s top public transport city.”