Young Manager of the Year sponsored by Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

Winner, Gold Award, Rob Hutchings – Arriva London South

Rob Hutchings is a talented and driven individual who joined Arriva after five successful years with Stagecoach. Rob is the General Manager for Brixton and Norwood garages in South London where he continues to lead his teams through example. Both Brixton and Norwood produce exceptional performance results including table topping Expected Waiting Time performance, engineering and staff lost mileage, and above network average mystery traveller scores. Brixton won the London Bus Garage of the Year award at last years UK Bus Awards and has continued to deliver outstanding results through a committed team with everyone playing their part. Rob is at the forefront of our transformation programme, with Brixton setting the pace for the rest of Arriva UK Bus. He has overall responsibility for his teams and is a great example of a committed young bus manager in the industry.

Winner, Silver Award, Alex Chutter – Go South Coast

Alex Chutter joined the Go South Coast family in April 2011 as a graduate trainee, and the company recognised this young talent. In just a few short years Alex has progressed to become a General Manager, and now looks after two brands which include Salisbury Reds as well as the company’s most recent bus acquisition of Thamesdown, now Swindon’s Bus Company. Alex has played a significant part in it’s transformation.

Winner, Bronze Award, Andy Turnbull – Transdev Blazefield

Andy Turnbull is a senior bus industry leader in the making. He has made a very quick and tangible impact on the business since joining Transdev Blazefield in 2016. Despite there not being graduate trainee scheme in place, the company knew that Andy could play an important role to improve the business. Since then, he’s demonstrated a flair for figures, successfully casting his eyes over our network and identifying areas for improvement based on financial performance and KPIs – and the results are there to see. Standards are being raised across the board, thanks to Andy’s work with staff and stakeholders. He’s improved avenues of communication, introducing innovative ways of getting information to drivers on the road, as well as raising vehicle and driver presentation standards. And his commitment to improving customer communications is already raising satisfaction, not least in producing the region’s best Transport Focus scores. Transdev Blazefield now has closer ties and links with business, local government, local authorities and the local community, thanks to Andy’s ongoing hard work in both establishing and nurturing new partnerships and relationships.

Finalist, Ben Coghlan – Stagecoach Manchester

In just 18 months, Fleet Engineer Ben Coghlan, has lead Stagecoach Manchester’s Stockport depot to become one of the top performing Stagecoach garages in the country. Ben joined the Stagecoach Apprentice Programme in 2007, and won the First Year Apprentice of the Year Award. He has gone on to support, develop and motivate his team and mentor a number of people who have progressed in their engineering careers as a result. His pro-active approach to achieving the highest in engineering standards has seen him introduce a programme of Preventative Maintenance that has resulted in the Stockport team delivering reductions in breakdowns and lost mileage, whist improving overall maintenance standards and vehicle cleanliness, all within budget. Ben works closely and effectively with staff at all levels to provide Stagecoach Manchester customers with the best service. His motivation, enthusiasm and commitment to achieving engineering excellence, both for himself and his team, make him a great asset to the company.

Finalist, Elizabeth Richards – Stagecoach West

Elizabeth Richards is a dynamic, bright young leader of two successful Stagecoach West depots – Cheltenham and Stroud. Cheltenham depot also delivers a special bus operation for one of the largest and most prestigious horse racing events in the UK. Elizabeth achieved budget, delivered growth in revenue and profit at both sites, and increased mileage and improving her buses fuel consumption. She has launched a third Park & Ride site and has begun the company’s first 24 hour service. Under Elizabeth’s leadership there are more female drivers entering the business, overall staff turnover is lower, and staff satisfaction levels are significantly better than other sites in a number of areas including well-being, inclusion and respect. Customer commendations have increased by 81% at her depots and road traffic accident levels have decreased. Elizabeth is enthusiastically creating stakeholder relationships in business and educational sectors making sure that public transport is on all local agendas. When she isn’t doing all of that, she’ll jump behind the wheel and show that she can be a great driver too!