Stagecoach Manchester was crowned ‘UK Bus Operator of the Year’ today at the 2013 UK Bus Awards, which were presented at a ceremony at London’s Hilton Park Lane hotel.
It’s the first time that a Stagecoach subsidiary has won the coveted title since the back-to-back victories of Stagecoach West Scotland in 2005 and 2006. Stagecoach Manchester was also named ‘Top City Operator’.
It ends a run of three years when the bus operator of the year title has been won by members of the Album group of independent bus companies – Nottingham City Transport (2012), Thamesdown Transport (2011) and Norfolk Green (2010).
Local authority-owned Reading Buses was runner-up, having triumphed in the ‘Top Shire Operator’ category.
It was a successful year for the Sheffield Bus Partnership which won two awards – ‘Making Buses A Better Choice’ and ‘Local Authority Project of the Year’ and finished runner-up in the ‘Award for Innovation’ category.
Meanwhile, the ‘Eureka! Award for Marketing Initiatives’, which is sponsored by Passenger Transport, was won jointly by Greener Journeys for their ‘Bus for Jobs’ initiative, which enabled more than 52,000 unemployed people across Britain to travel for free by bus throughout January 2013 in order to access jobs and training, and bus company Go North East for the marketing campaign to launch its new ‘Angel’ service.
A full list of the winners can be seen below. However, there will be detailed coverage in the official UK Bus Awards 2013 Souvenir Brochure – “The Big Book of Big Winners” – which will be published on December 6. To receive a copy of the brochure, or to advertise in it, contact our team on 020 7749 6909.
The UK Bus Awards 2013 – The results:
Operating Awards
Top Express Operation, sponsored by Volvo Bus
Winner:
National Express Operation – Travel de Courcey
Runner-up:
Express City Connect – Stagecoach East Scotland
Highly Commended:
Greyhound Express – First Cymru
Top National Bus Depot, sponsored by Personal Group
Winner:
Crawley – Metrobus
Runner-up:
Blyth – Arriva North East
Highly Commended:
Southport – Arriva North West & Wales
Bolton – First Manchester
Hengrove – First Bristol
Newport – Southern Vectis
Top City Operator, sponsored by BAE Systems
Winner:
Stagecoach Manchester
Runner-up:
Lothian Buses
Highly Commended:
Abellio London
Go North East
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
Top Shire Operator, sponsored by Ticketer
Winner:
Reading Buses
Runner-up:
Stagecoach South West
Highly Commended:
Metrobus
Travel de Courcey
Transdev Burnley & Pendle
Top Independent Operator, sponsored by Scania
Winner:
Norfolk Green
Runner-up:
Courtney Buses
Highly Commended:
Compass Travel
Ensignbus
Perryman’s Buses
UK Bus Operator of the Year, sponsored by Belmont International and QBE insurance
Winner:
Stagecoach Manchester
Runner-up:
Reading Buses
Technical & Professional Awards
Environment Award, sponsored by Bus & Coach Professional
Winner:
Lothian Buses – leading the way for greener transport
Joint Runners-up:
Reading Buses – a breath of fresh air
Stagecoach Group – sustainability success
Highly Commended:
FirstGroup – reduce, re-use, recycle programme
Transport for London – NOx abatement programme
Travel de Courcey & partners – Coventry park & ride south electric vehicle project
Award for Innovation, sponsored by Alexander Dennis
Winner:
uTrack Software Solutions – uTrack & National Express
Runner-up:
South Yorkshire PTE & partners – The Sheffield Bus Partnership
Highly Commended:
Centro – the safer travel command centre
Confederation of Passenger Transport UK – bus for us
Go-Ahead Group & Williams Hybrid Power – hybrid power flywheel project
Greener Journeys – bus for jobs
Special Commendation:
Denis Noble, First Aberdeen
Putting Passengers First – The Claudia Flanders Memorial Award, sponsored by INIT
Winner:
Reading Buses – dedicated to accessibility for everyone
Runner-up:
Bluestar – star access
Highly Commended:
Dales Integrated Transport Alliance – one-way £1 fare for under 19s
Go North East – delivering service and innovation
Lothian Buses – the digital customer
North Yorkshire County Council – ride around for £1
Stagecoach East Scotland – improving customer relations through social media
Making Buses A Better Choice: the Peter Huntley Memorial Award, sponsored by Heathrow Airport
Winner:
South Yorkshire PTE & partners – The Sheffield Bus Partnership
Runner-up:
Stagecoach in Sheffield – SupertramLink
Highly Commended:
Essex County Council – using demand responsive transport to meet the needs of rural communities
First Hampshire & Dorset and Hampshire County Council – Eclipse
Lothian Buses, service 10 – buses for everyone
Nottingham City Transport – Go2 Yellow Line, take the weight off your feet and be sure of a seat
Unilink and Bluestar – a platform for growth
Stagecoach East – The Busway
Local Authority Project of the Year
Winner:
Sheffield City Council & partners – Sheffield Bus Partnership
Runner-up:
Metro & partners, the improved A65 – travel the easyway
Highly Commended:
Centro – Birmingham City Centre Interchange
Devon County Council – integrating transport in Devon
The Eureka! Award for Marketing Initiatives, sponsored by Passenger Transport
Joint Winner:
Go North East – the green angels
Greener Journeys – bus for jobs
Highly Commended:
Arriva North East & Arriva Yorkshire – it’s alive, it’s electric-frankenbus
First Manchester – save Manchester
Go North East – your bus ticket on your mobile; simply buy, show and go
Stagecoach UK Bus – adoption of social media for business and consumer benefit
Translink – yLink youth travel card
The Marketing Excellence Award, sponsored by CBS Outdoor
Winner:
Go North East – maximising the brand
Runner-up:
Stagecoach in Sheffield – creating strong passenger growth
Highly Commended:
more bus – more, more, more!
Lloyds Coaches – creating a strong brand image
Megabus UK – digital integration
Yellow Buses – the brighter bus company
The Bus and the Community Award, sponsored by Euro Bus Expo 2014
Winner:
Go-Ahead Group – Go Learn
Runner-up:
First West Yorkshire – making the grade
Highly Commended:
Brighton & Hove – police liaison officer initiative
Lothian Buses – go blue for Prostate Scotland
Nottingham City Transport – Clifton Diamond Jubilee celebrations
Stagecoach London – bus driver cycle awareness
Awards for Industry People
The Young Manager of the Year Award, sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport
Winner:
Jon Croxford, First West Yorkshire
Runner-up:
Tom Waterhouse, Stagecoach South
Highly Commended:
Simon Goff, First Berkshire
Morgan Stevens, Newport Transport
The Unsung Heroes Award, sponsored by Backhouse Jones
Winner:
Brian Dawber, Reading Buses
Stage Presentation of ‘Tombstone’:
Alan Black, Lothian Buses
Gieni Dudek, Newport Transport
Vernon Gibbs, Go South Coast – Southern Vectis
Highly Commended Certificates (not on stage):
Kenneth Monaghan, Stagecoach West Scotland
Jason Rayner, Stagecoach South
The Chris Moyes Memorial Award for Top National Bus Driver, sponsored by Traffilog
Winner:
Raul Campos Folgado, Lothian Buses
Runner-up:
Barry Polkey, Nottingham City Transport
Highly Commended:
Jaison Annear, First Bristol & Avon
Harmesh Chand, Newport Transport
Gino Contrino, First Devon & Cornwall
Augusto Iandi, First Hampshire & Dorset
Phil Millard, First Manchester
The Engineer of the Year Award, sponsored by Bus & Coach Buyer
Winner:
Simon Carlisle, First West Yorkshire
Runner-up:
Martin Dixon, Abellio London & Surrey
Highly Commended:
Jason Dixon, Arriva Yorkshire
Services to the Industry, sponsored by Buses
Peter Newman
Barrie Etchells
London Awards
London bus garage of the year, sponsored by Transport for London
Winner:
West Ham – Stagecoach London
Runner-up:
New Cross – Go-Ahead London
Highly Commended:
Barking – Stagecoach East London
Cricklewood – Metroline
Hounslow – London United
Orpington– Metrobus
Luke Rees-Pulley Charitable Trust Award for Top London Bus Driver, sponsored by Transport for London
Winner:
Steve Riches, Go-Ahead London
Joint runners-up:
Jason Bond, Abellio London
Lesley Peacock, Metroline
Highly Commended:
John Anderson, Quality Line, Epsom
Pat Connolly, Go-Ahead London
Ian Holmes, London United
Thomas McDonnell, Arriva London
Andrew Samuel, Go-Ahead London