Alisha Chohan is the external Transport Manager for Aston Manor Coaches, and wants to prove to anyone wanting to join the coach industry that it is far from being a man’s world
Alisha Chohan is a pioneer for Birmingham-based Aston Manor Coaches.
As the company’s external Transport Manager (TM), not only does Alisha buck the trend by working as a woman in transport – among approximately 20% in the sector – she is also raising the profile of women in the underrepresented Asian community within passenger transport.
Through her involvement with the coach industry, Alisha hopes to demonstrate that women are equally suited to work within passenger transport and provide a role model for other young women who might otherwise never know what opportunities exist there.
The Aston Manor family business
Aston Manor Coaches was founded in 2007 by Alisha’s brother, Nasir (Nas) Ali shortly after he passed his TM Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) course. Since then he has never looked back. It currently operates 13 vehicles from its depot near Birmingham.
Role models play a huge part of the working culture at Aston Manor. Nas has been a huge encouragement for Alisha: “I feel that a little bit more encouragement is needed from the industry as a whole,” Alisha says. “It seems that a lot of women feel like their only role within the industry might be to become a receptionist, but there’s so much more for them to do – and sometimes they need a nudge into a different direction to unlock their talents.”
Creating a virtuous circle of role models can only be a good thing, and diversity within the workforce brings its own benefits and new perspectives. Breaking the mould can be tough – when Alisha took her TM course, of eight people in the passenger class, she was the only female, the only Asian, and the youngest. An HGV class next door had only two women in a group of 20.
But for Alisha, taking the first step to do something different is carrying on the work that Nas already started. “I thought that if Nas can take that step and create Aston Manor, then by doing this it will encourage another first step for someone else. Not everybody had faith in Aston Manor back then, and not everybody had faith in me in 2020 – but Aston Manor is in a good place now.
“Because Nas founded this company in 2007, I’ve been able to do what I wanted to do in 2020 – so then maybe in a couple of years’ time, somebody else will be able to do something because I did it now – that’s how we see it. And if Nas hadn’t pushed me initially, I would never have gone down this route. If everyone behaved like him, then the industry would be an even nicer place to work.”
Alisha undertook her Transport Manager’s CPC exam in March 2020, just days before the announcement of the COVID-19 national lockdown. After receiving her results in May, she became TM at Aston Manor Coaches in September. Joining the family company had not always been on her radar, and before the appeal of coaching cemented her, she did not know whether she would stay for the long term. “I had been to university initially and had achieved a BA and a Master’s in Business and Human Resource Management. I knew I needed to specialise in something so gave the family business a go. I thought – if the boys can do it, why can’t I?”
After beginning with receptionist work, Alisha moved into compliance and gained the confidence in her skills to take on the role of TM. As well as encouragement and advice from her brother, Alisha joined Office Manager and coach industry veteran Pauline Booth, another key role model and a reminder that women have long helped to hold coach businesses together behind the scenes. But Alisha was frustrated that her initial involvement with the business has not been as fast-paced as initially hoped.
“Because of COVID-19 things have been going slowly. Nas has been a TM for the past 15 years, so he knows the industry like the back of his hand. He helped set the stones, and if I have a question he’s there to answer it, but I would rather be thrown into the deep end. I react best to that. Hopefully the season coming forward will be better for us.”
Women in the industry
Alisha is a role model not just for other women looking to become TMs, but is also pioneering that role for women more specifically within the Asian community. “For the Asian community to have a female TM is a big thing,” she says. “I know a lot of Asian operators in the West Midlands area and I don’t know of any female TMs among them – that seems to be fairly consistent.
“When Aston Manor took me on, other operators were surprised. It’s something different, and I think it’s down to culture – women in the Asian community just don’t seem to be interested in transport.”
Alisha agrees that more exposure to role models could be the way to change that. “I think it’s a positive thing. People were surprised that Aston Manor believed in me to go ahead and do it. Now when people from the community phone up the office, it opens their eyes – they realise that women are working here and it demonstrates the potential for others to follow.”
Even thinking back just five years ago, Alisha recalls how there was little exposure to those kinds of roles, and that it would be refreshing to see that change. “At the age of 18 and 20 I didn’t know that there was the option to do this role, or that there was so much work to be done within the coach industry. My impression was that a company needed a driver and someone in the office – and I imagine so many people still don’t know how much effort goes on behind the scenes to make a coach company stand as it does. That’s why I fell in love with the industry.
Departing from tradition does bring mixed feelings though. “On the one hand somebody has to do it,” Alisha says. “And if it gives a chance for other people to follow in my footsteps that’s a great feeling.
“On the other hand, it’s taking a step into the unknown. I don’t know anyone else in my position, so I have no footsteps of my own to follow. But the positives largely outweigh the negatives. An awful lot of people and other operators I know now realise that this is not just an industry for men. The magic behind the office is what helps things run smoothly on the day.”
The future at Aston Manor
Alisha’s future plans are now firmly set within the coach industry. She hopes to carry on and become the company’s permanent TM by next year, and like Nas, demonstrate her knowledge like the back of her hand. “That’s how I’ve seen it for so many years. Nas is a perfectionist, and knowledge of the industry is like waking up to him. I want to get myself to a position where I can say the same.”
And from there, Alisha hopes it may be a springboard to higher ambitions, such as Managing Director. Aston Manor maintains a positive workplace culture that pushes its staff to be their best selves. “If everybody puts in, pushes each other and fulfils their potential, the environment is healthier, it’s a better working atmosphere, and everyone is happier,” she says.
Challenges remain along the way, of course, and while Alisha acknowledges that perceptions of women within the industry have markedly improved over the last 10 years, and continue to do so, she feels there will always be some men who don’t like to take directions from a woman. “Some men are not going to appreciate a woman letting them know what to do, especially when, like me, you’re still seen as a child to the older generation. That’s going to remain a challenge, and that problem is not just within the coach industry.
“Some people will always be stuck in the mentality that this is a man’s job and a man’s world – vehicles, oil, passengers. But with time that is going to change, and we need more women to come in and do the same as me – to become TMs and engineers and directors. By that point, it will be normal. But I feel we are still some time away from that reality. Lots has changed over the last 10 years, so who knows what 10 more will bring.”
