HCT Group provides a range of transport services: from London red buses to community transport, school buses to Park and Ride. HCT's 600 vehicles operating in London, Yorkshire, Manchester, the South West and the Channel Islands deliver over 20 million passenger trips a year. It has 1,000 employees and a turnover of £62m.

Hackney Community Transport was set up in 1982 to provide minibuses for community groups. In 1993, with grants under threat, HCT began to compete for commercial contracts. This resulted in HCT growing from a few volunteers to a large social enterprise.

Gemma (left) and Roshane both got jobs at HCT Group's Transport Coordination Centre after taking the HCT's customer service course.

The Phone Co-op supplies HCT with fixed line services and broadband, and some 400 mobile phones. Every driver has a mobile phone for emergencies, and they are also used as part of a buddying scheme whereby people with limited mobility are sent texts to tell them when their transport is due.

John Smart, Chief Financial Officer of HTC said: “As a Social Enterprise we always try to buy from organisations with similar values to our own. We use the Phone Coop not just because they’re a Social Enterprise but really because they care about our business and about giving us a first class service. They provide all of our fixed and mobile telephony at very competitive rates and with a level of service that’s second to none in the telephony sector.”

Guy Ohlenschlager, Corporate Sales Manager at The Phone Co-op, added: "We aim to give better customer service than other providers. For example we are very flexible with the mobile contracts we offer HCT. When they opened a new depot they didn't know what their mobile usage would be so we started them on a pay as you use service and after three months we analysed their usage and decided what contract would suit them best".

For more about HCT Group please visit their website.