This year’s UK Bus Awards ceremony is fast approaching. Steve Cresswell, Director of Sales at the organisation, spoke to John Lewis about the work involved to decide this year’s winners
Any initiative which encourages the pursuit of excellence in the road passenger transport industry should be applauded.
That is what the UK Bus Awards are designed to do, and why they deserve the bus industry’s wholehearted support. [wlm_nonmember][…]
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Not surprisingly, that is the view of Director of Sales, Steve Cresswell.
“Our aim is for the very best to be recognised and rewarded and for award winners to inspire themselves and others to greater things,” he said.
“What we also do is provide a high-profile and enjoyable annual event which celebrates their achievements and allows best practice to be shared.
“People can see all the good things that go on and then they can replicate them.”
The UK Bus Awards were started 23 years ago by a group of senior industry executives who felt that there were a lot of positive things happening in the bus industry that were not being highlighted.
“They thought that such things needed shouting about,” said Steve.
An awards event was needed they believed, so a body was established to organise one. “It was set up as a not-for-profit organisation, with any money made being ploughed back into the event,” he said.
The same approach is taken today. “As a consequence the event can keep growing and growing,” he pointed out.
“We get backing from all the major players in the sector who provide funding to support what we do,” he continued. “They’ve been fabulous and their support has been unwavering.”
The awards
The 21 awards are split into three categories – operator; technical and professional; and people in the industry – with an additional category for London supported by Transport for London.
The operator rewards are for: Top City Operator; Top Independent Operator; Top Shire Operator; Top National Bus Depot and the big one, UK Bus Operator of the Year.
The technical and professional awards are for: Sustained Marketing Excellence; Marketing Initiative of the Year; Bus & Community; Environment; Making Buses a Better Choice; Putting Passengers First; the Road Operators’ Safety Council (ROSCO) Award for Innovation in Road Safety; and New Horizons.
The last-named is for an original or novel idea or the application of a technological solution that either improves the image of buses or stimulates interest in them or enhances the viability or efficiency of the bus industry.
The people in the industry awards are for: Engineer of the Year; Leadership and Inspiration; Services to the Bus Industry; Top National Bus Driver; Unsung Heroes and Young Manager of the Year. The London awards are for the Top London Bus Garage and the Top London Bus Driver.
Judging the entries
“The entries – there are 200 this year – are scrutinised by completely independent panels of judges from the industry,” said Steve.
The judges represent all aspects of the bus industry including local authorities, trade bodies and passenger groups.
“We find that all the entries are worthwhile and represent the vast amount of work that goes on to provide the UK with a first-class public transport service,” he commented.
Candidates for the 21 awards can be nominated by for example a supplier who thinks they are worthy of one, or in some cases they can nominate themselves.
“In fact we can accommodate all manner of nominations,” Steve said.
“Members of the public can nominate drivers or a particular service. It is incidentally a free-to-enter scheme,” he added.
When nominations and any supporting material that accompanies them are initially submitted, they are carefully checked by the UK Bus Awards administration team.
“One of the things the team looks for is whether they are being entered for the right award,” he said.
“For instance, as highlighted earlier, we’ve got two different marketing awards.”
A full assessment
Around 40 judges are involved across the various categories.
All the nominees are assessed and given a ranking which determines which ones will go on to become finalists.
In some cases mystery shoppers are sent out to verify some of the claims made by entrants in line with a pre-determined set of criteria.
“It’s a very important part of the judging process,” Steve said.
“A mystery shopper might ride one or two bus routes and among other things look at whether the driver waited until passengers had sat down before he drove off,” he observed.
“Remember that not everything in life can be judged by facts, figures, statistics and data.”
In other cases judges may want to interview some of the nominees. Each award has gold, silver and bronze categories. “We occasionally add a commended category too,” he said.
Open to all
One of the key advantages of the awards is that they allow a spotlight to be directed towards the achievements of all operators, irrespective of their size. Achievements which might otherwise be ignored.
Isn’t there the danger that smaller bus firms will simply be outclassed? That is simply not the case, said Steve.
“It’s true that some companies put together fantastic presentations with videos and what almost amounts to a small magazine,” he observed.
“However we look at each and every nomination on its merits, no matter how big or small the business concerned is.
“We’ve given awards to firms with no more than three vehicles for promoting themselves effectively using a combination of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter co-ordinated with leaflets,” he added.
The announcement
In a departure from past practice, the 2018 awards shortlist is being announced this month (9 October, which falls after this issue goes to press) under The Big Reveal banner using social media.
“Once again the quality of the entries has been outstanding and the judging panels have certainly faced a challenge,” said UK Bus Awards Chairman, Mark Yexley.
“Excellence is at an all-time high.”
The awards ceremony is usually held in the third week of November at a London venue. “Last year over 700 people attended and attendees can of course use the networking opportunities that are available to expand their company’s industry profile,” said Steve.
This year it will take place on Tuesday, 20 November at Troxy, an extraordinary and completely restored Art Deco Grade II listed building at 490 Commercial Road in London’s East End.
Troxy was originally constructed as a huge cinema in the early 1930s. “The first film it ever showed was King Kong,” Steve said.
With BBC newsreader Jane Hill as the host, the event will start at 1145hrs with lunch at 1230hrs and a bar open until 1800hrs.
The individual awards are sponsored and other sponsorship opportunities are available as well.
“You can have your logo displayed on each of the tables for instance,” Steve said. Tickets for the ceremony must be booked in advance. So what does it cost to attend? Not as much as you might think, he replied.
“A table for 10 costs £2,050 plus VAT,” he said. Individual tickets cost £210, again excluding VAT; visit www.ukbusawards.org.uk for details.
“Remember that you can use the awards as an additional employee reward scheme,” he said.
“You can bring your colleagues to our ceremony as a thank-you, to recognise their efforts.”
If they are sufficiently impressed – and it is likely that they will be – then they may be motivated to enter the awards themselves next year.
Troxy – where it is and how to get there: Bus routes 15, 115 and 135 serve the stops outside Troxy. Bus D3 also stops at the nearby Docklands Light Railway Limehouse station – the closest station to the venue.
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