Fiona Harwood is the first to admit that the past six months have been tough.

Now the proud owner of Fiona Harwood Associates, her work world came to a crashing halt in August 2022 with the sudden demise of Yellow Buses.

As the company’s Marketing and Sales Manager, she was the face of the 120-year-old company in the community and just months away from celebrating her tenth anniversary.

But that all changed in minutes with the Yellows first going into administration and then, within a matter of days, complete closure of the bus operation.

It was a devastating end for a business which had survived two world wars and countless recessions and downturns, leaving hundreds of staff redundant.

Fiona said: “To be totally honest it’s been a really hard six months.

“It’s why it’s taken me a little while to work out where I’m going and what to do next.

“We just had no idea what was happening and it was such a shock.

“It sounds like a cliché but we really were a close family.

“We’d all worked together a long time, we knew each other and we were part of the community.

“I’d literally just delivered a marketing campaign celebrating the company’s 120 years.

“It feels like we’ve gone through a grieving process and I still find it very difficult.

“I did all the stakeholder engagement and worked with pretty much everybody.

“When we described Yellow Buses as iconic that was everyone else’s word for the company.

“People had grown up with Yellow Buses and it had touched so many people’s lives one way or another.

“Even today and going to Bournemouth and not seeing those Yellow Buses, it’s just so very sad.”

It was the outpouring of support for Fiona, and her team, that prompted her to launch Fiona Harwood Associates.

She said: “My glass has always been half full.

“I’ve always believed that when one door closes, another one opens, and that things happen for a reason.

“You’ve got to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get on with it.

“Everyone was amazing when the news came out about Yellow Buses.

“The help, the support, the personal messages for myself and the team.

“You forget how many people you’ve worked with.

“I looked around for other jobs but I needed to get my head in the right place rather than going for some corporate job or whatever.

“People were saying ‘Look, Fi, you know so many people, you can help me do this or do that’.

“I thought there may be some merit in this.

“I thought about it more, spoke to some more people and here we are.”

With 36 years’ experience in a range of marketing and sales roles, Fiona’s new venture offers a wide variety of services.

She said: “The reason it’s called Fiona Harwood Associates is that it’s not just about me.

“It’s about everyone else that I work with and my contacts.

“I can offer design, photography, marketing, business consultancy, business promotion, business marketing, digital, social media, print, advertising, customer service and customer service training, staff mentoring, appraisals – it’s a pretty long list.

“The nice thing is that I can do retained work, one-off projects or just dip in and dip out.

“With business, and staff recruitment, quite difficult at the moment many don’t want to commit to a full member of staff but just need a helping hand.

“With the network of contacts I have, including some within Yellow Buses, we’re still going to be working together which is really nice.

“It’s all about looking after each other in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch.

“I’m a firm believer that people have supported me and now I will support them.”

Fiona, 54, is Bournemouth born and bred with three sons aged 22, 24 and 31.

They, together with her partner, Ian, have been very supportive, she said.

A Director of Wimborne Business Improvement District (BID) since 2020, Fiona was elected Chair last year.

The BID positions are voluntary and unpaid.

Her new business had a ‘soft launch’ in the last few months and a steady stream of work is already coming in.

She said: “It’s been brilliant.

“If I ever needed some reassurance that I was doing the right thing then this has been it.

“Everyone has been lovely and full of support.

“Now it’s time to be brave and make it official and say, ‘yes, this is me’.

“I want to work with people I like, people I know I can help and products I believe in.

“It’s all been very daunting but now it’s safe to say that I’m really excited.

“I’m so looking forward to it and to be working with some great people.”

• fionaharwoodassociates.co.uk
• All pictures courtesy of Paul Collins/PC Visuals.