Awards
Stagecoach's new ideas and pioneering approach to public transport continues to be recognised with a host of major awards.
We have twice been named UK Bus Operator of the Year and have previously been named Rail Operator of the Year in the UK, which is a reflection of our commitment to high quality services for passengers across our businesses.
Stagecoach has won more plaudits than ever before from transport industry experts for its bus, rail and tram operations. The following are just a selection of the honours our companies and our people have earned over the past 12 months.
GROUP-WIDE AWARDS 2008
- Stagecoach was rated the most ethical of the UK’s big five public transport groups in a major survey carried out by the Observer newspaper in conjunction with Co-operative Asset Management. The Group was ranked in the top 10% of UK plcs after being placed 34th in the second annual Good Companies Guide, which assesses the performance of all the shares in the FTSE 350 index against a range of social, environmental and ethical criteria.
- Stagecoach Group was named as one of Britain’s top 10 “Most Admired Companies” in Management Today’s 15th annual review of Britain’s top companies. Stagecoach was placed sixth in the list of over 200 companies and also received the award for top company in the transport sector.
UK BUS AWARDS 2008
For the second year in a row, Stagecoach led the field at the 2008 UK Bus Awards, driving off with more honours than any other British bus operator.
- Stagecoach co-founder and Chief Executive Brian Souter received the 2008 Special Recognition Award for services to the bus industry.
- Stagecoach North West Operations Manager Rob Jones won the Young Manager of the Year award after judges agreed he had added significant value to the future of the company.
- Stagecoach in Oxfordshire won the Bus in the Countryside award after achieving passenger growth of over a third in the past year on its Route 20 service.
- Stagecoach West Scotland was runner-up in the Express Coach Operator of the Year category for its popular X76/X77 express network.
- Stagecoach Yorkshire was s close second in the Integration Award for its Supertram bus link in Sheffield.
LIGHT RAIL AWARDS 2008
- Stagecoach Supertram, which operates the 28km light rail network incorporating three routes in the city of Sheffield, won the Project of the Year award for its ‘Refresh’ scheme - a £3million upgrade programme run in partnership with South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) which aims to enhance the travel experience for tram users. The company, which carries around 15million passengers a year, is the only UK light rail company to attempt and successfully carry out a refresh onsite, with staff undertaking the majority of the work.
- Stagecoach Supertram previously won the Best Customer Initiative Award at the 2007 Light Rail Awards.
SCOTTISH TRANSPORT AWARDS 2008
- Recently retired Stagecoach East Scotland Engineering Director Sandy Brydon won the award for Outstanding Contribution to Local Transport.
- Stagecoach was shortlisted for Public Transport Operator of the Year for its Fife and Bluebird operations and both companies were commended for their achievements and commitment to passenger growth in their respective areas.
- Stagecoach was also highly commended for the Airdirect 747 Service, which operates between Fife and Edinburgh Airport – the service was shortlisted in the Excellence in Marketing and Travel Planning category after implementing several promotional campaigns which have led to continual passenger growth.
ROUTE ONE OPERATOR EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2008
- Stagecoach Cambridge and Peterborough won the Large Operator of the Year award and was praised by the judges for constantly seeking and exploiting new initiatives to maintain an already impressive record of growth.
- Stagecoach West Scotland’s Bio-bus project came out on top as the Innovation of the Year after trialling the UK’s first vehicles to run on 100% recycled biodiesel.
- Stagecoach Manchester Managing Director Mark Threapleton won the 2008 Special Award for the valuable contribution he has made to the wider industry over the past 12 months.
- Stagecoach also won three awards – Bus Manager of the Year, Bus Engineer of the Year and the Special Award – at the 2007 Route One Awards.
NATIONAL RAIL AWARDS 2008
- The Waterloo Train Presentation team were awarded a highly commended certificate in the London Team of the Year category.
- The Southampton Stations Partnership, which is made up of South West Trains, Southampton City Council, British Transport Police and Network Rail, was highly commended in the Putting Passengers First category.
- Bournemouth station was highly commended in the Station of the Year category.
- Paul Little, platform assistant at Richmond, was a finalist in the category of Outstanding Personal Contribution and Andrew Fairbank, South West Trains’ Head of Stations, was a finalist in the managers’ category for Outstanding Personal Contribution.
- South West Trains previously won the Maintenance Team of the Year honour at the 2007 National Rail Awards.
INNOVATION
- Stagecoach Group has won numerous awards for its ground-breaking web-based low-cost inter-city travel service, megabus.com.
- Stagecoach West Scotland’s bio-bus project won the Innovation of the Year at the 2008 Scottish Transport Awards.
RAIL EXCELLENCE
- South West Trains has won a clutch of awards for its investment in new trains, the quality of its stations and a range of safety and security initiatives for passengers.
- South West Trains’ commitment to safety has seen it twice win the Robert Horton Safety Award at the National Rail Awards.
- South West Trains also received a special ‘winner of winners’ award for winning more honours than any other organisation over the past 10 years of the HSBC Rail Business Awards. Among the six awards the train company has won over the past 10 years was the Rail Business of the Year accolade in 2005.
MARKETING
- When it comes to marketing buses and trains and attracting more people to public transport, our experts are among the best in their field. Stagecoach businesses have won numerous marketing honours at the Bus Industry Awards and the Rail Business Awards.
CUSTOMER SERVICE AND INFORMATION
- Daniel Opoku from South West Trains was named Customer Service Professional of the Year at the 2008 National Customer Service Awards.
- South West Trains’ employee Alan Hopgood was delighted to win the Outstanding Customer Service award at the 2008 Railstaff awards.
ROYAL HONOURS
- Stagecoach bus driver David Hands was awarded an MBE for services to public transport in the 2008 New Year Honours. David (62), who is based at the company’s depot in Sunderland, has been a Stagecoach driver for eight years and has also worked tirelessly for various charities, including the Sunderland Counselling Service and St. Benedict’s Hospice.
- Stagecoach Merseyside bus driver Bobby Fletcher was awarded an MBE for services to the transport industry in the Queen’s 2009 New Year Honours. Bobby began his career in the bus industry in 1963 and has become an excellent ambassador for the company.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
- Stagecoach won two top awards at the 2008 Passenger Transport Management Awards when Elaine Rosscraig, Head of Customer Insight at Stagecoach UK Bus, was named Innovator of the Year and Sarah Longair, Operations Director at Stagecoach West Scotland, was co-winner of the Young Transport Professional Award.
- Manchester apprentice James Belfield (21) was named the 2008 winner of the Transport Engineering and Maintenance category at the GoSkills Passenger Transport Apprenticeship Awards ceremony. Stagecoach apprentices have now won the same award for three consecutive years.
- Stagecoach Yorkshire won the Diverse Workplace Award at the 2008 Barnsley Business Awards.
OVERSEAS
- Megabus.com in the US was named as the 2008 winner of Budget Travel Magazine’s Extra Mile Award. The judges said: “megabus.com didn’t start a trend – it reinvented bus travel for a new generation.”
- Jim Devlin, President of our Coach Canada business, has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ontario Motor Coach Association.
- Our popular New York Sightseeing service in New York has received a prestigious Gray Line Diamond Award for promoting the brand worldwide.
These are just a few of the successes we have achieved for our award-winning transport and we are constantly striving to improve. Of course, the most important judges are the millions of customers who vote with their feet and use our services every day.
