The National Final of the UK Bus Driver of the Year (BDoY) Competition took place in Blackpool on Sunday (September 8) and among 105 entries from operators large and small. The overall winner was Gordon Cutting from Stagecoach Oxfordshire, who finished fifth in 2012.
Gordon received a £1,000 cheque from ROSCO – the Road Operators’ Safety Council – sponsoring the BDoY top prize for the first time. He also received £500 from Unite the Union and was awarded the John Boxall Medallion as national champion. John founded Bus Driver of the Year in Coventry in 1967. A further £500 was awarded to Gordon as highest-placed competitor from the Stagecoach Group and £50 accompanied by the Giles Fearnley Trophy as bestplaced driver from England.
Runner-up was Andrew Hardy from First South Yorkshire, receiving £750 with the Compak Ramps trophy and £250 from the RMT Union. Andrew was additionally highest-placed FirstGroup competitor, winning £500 and both Best Newcomer and Youngest National Finalist receiving the Ticketer and Mistral Group Shields – each with a £50 cash award.
In third place was Phillip MacDonald of First Bristol, Somerset & Avon, winning the Volvo Bus & Coach Cup plus £500 and the Best Impressions Trophy with £250 – with a further £250 for being second-highest-placed FirstGroup finalist. Philip McAvoy from First Devon & Cornwall, winning the Optare Trophy and £300 plus the GoSkills Cup and £200 finished in overall fourth place and Ted Reid of Stagecoach Bluebird was fifth, picking-up the Scania Trophy and £150 and the McKenna Shield with £100 plus the Kathleen Stark Memorial Shield and £50 as best Scottish competitor.
