25 November 2025
Seven hundred industry professionals came together today at London’s iconic Troxy to celebrate the 29th annual UK Bus Awards – the national showcase for excellence, innovation, and leadership across the bus sector. As a proudly not-for-profit independent initiative, the awards once again highlighted the standout people, partnerships and projects that keep communities connected and push the industry forward.
The ethos of the UK Bus Awards remains the same: recognise, reward and inspire. From engineering excellence and environmental breakthroughs to community initiatives and frontline heroes, the 2025 winners demonstrate the energy, creativity and passion that power the UK bus industry every day.
Integrity and fairness continue to be at the heart of the awards. Each category is assessed through a rigorous, fully independent judging process, bringing together expert panels, detailed submission assessments, and, in key operational categories, mystery travelling audits based on more than 30 customer-focused criteria. This impartial approach ensures that every award reflects genuine performance, innovation, and commitment to excellence.
Alan Millar, Chairman of the UK Bus Awards, said:
“Every year, the UK Bus Awards remind us that this industry is built on people – people with skill, ability and a determination to make a difference. Our 2025 winners and finalists showcase the power of innovation, collaboration and community. Their achievements inspire the whole sector, and we’re proud to celebrate them.”
A day of standout achievements
The top honour of the day, UK Bus Operator of the Year, was awarded to Blackpool Transport, who impressed judges with their consistently high standards, customer focus and operational excellence. Their win came after securing Gold in the Top SME Operator category, before triumphing against Diamond Bus North West (Top Contracted Operator) and Reading Buses (Top Shire Operator) in the final head-to-head.
Other major accolades offered a snapshot of the diverse strengths of the sector.
Championing communities
Bangor Clerical Team (Translink) took Gold in Bus and the Community, recognised for their remarkable commitment to local support, compassion and community connection.
Culture change at its best
Grant Palmer’s “Transforming the Duty Office” won Gold for Culture Change, marking a powerful demonstration of organisational improvement, staff empowerment and operational transformation.
Celebrating engineering talent
The intensely contested Engineer of the Year title went to Martin Haldane (Lothian), praised for technical excellence, leadership and an unwavering commitment to keeping fleets safe and reliable.
Driving sustainability forward
In Environmental Innovation, Global claimed Gold for their Closed-loop de-inking system—a breakthrough approach reducing waste and environmental impact across the print and advertising cycle.
Honouring a lifetime contribution
A major moment of the ceremony was the presentation of the Lifetime Contribution to the Bus Industry Award to Martin Dean (The Go-Ahead Group), recognising a career defined by leadership, advocacy and service to the industry.
Celebrating those behind the wheel
Receiving the Top National Bus Driver, Chris Moyes Memorial Award, was Zohra Rani (Nottingham City Transport), honoured for her exceptional professionalism, customer care and leadership as a role model for drivers across the UK.
In London, Katarzyna Boczkaja (First Bus London) secured Gold in the Luke Rees-Pulley Award for Top London Bus Driver, praised for her outstanding service to passengers and her exemplary safety record.
Leaders of today and tomorrow
The Manager of the Year Gold Award went to Jonathon Hunt (First Bus East of England), recognised for his strategic leadership, innovation and a positive impact on people and performance.
Rising talent shone in the Young Manager of the Year category, where Isobel Hedley-Jones (Fastrack) was awarded Gold for her impressive vision, capability and early-career leadership.
Partnerships, innovation and operational excellence
This year also demonstrated the importance of collaborative working and operational improvement:
- Portsmouth Buses Partnership won Gold for Partnership for Excellence, highlighting the power of joint working between operators and local authorities.
- Poole (Morebus) was named Top National Bus Depot, recognised for outstanding operations, staff culture and customer-focused performance.
- Lothian secured Gold as Top City Operator, while Diamond Bus North West took Gold as Top Contracted Operator.
- Reading Buses was awarded Gold as Top Shire Operator, reinforcing their longstanding reputation for quality and innovation.
Recognising people who make a difference
The human stories at the heart of the industry were brought to the fore in the Unsung Hero category, where John Cowell (First Bus London) was awarded Gold for his tireless dedication behind the scenes, making a profound difference to colleagues and customers alike.
Looking ahead
Reflecting on the ceremony, Alan Millar added:
“The 2025 winners represent the best of the industry: skilled engineers, inspiring managers, innovative partnerships, and drivers who embody professionalism every day. Their achievements show the importance of buses in connecting people, enriching communities and driving sustainable transport forward.
“We congratulate every winner and finalist.”
ENDS.
Notes to Editors:
- A full gallery of photographs from this year’s event will be available shortly at the UK Bus Awards website.
- The UK Bus Awards celebrate excellence, innovation and leadership across the UK bus industry, recognising achievements from individuals, operators and partnerships.
- All awards are independently judged by expert panels to ensure fairness, integrity and transparency.
- For more information, visit ukbusawards.org.uk.
UK Bus awards 2025 results:
Bus and the Community sponsored by Heathrow
Winner, Gold Award: Bangor Clerical Team (Translink)
Winner, Silver Award: Liverpool Zoe’s Place (Arriva Merseyside)
Winner, Bronze Award: First Bus North & West Yorkshire
Finalist: Ask for Angel Street (Stagecoach East Midlands)
Finalist: Shelter Scotland (Lothian)
Finalist: Somerset Passenger Solutions
Finalist: Storybus (Konectbus)
Culture Change sponsored by Intuitive Talent Solutions
Winner, Gold Award: Transforming the Duty Office (Grant Palmer)
Winner, Silver Award: Changing Gears (Translink)
Winner, Bronze Award: Period Positivity campaign (Women in Bus and Coach)
Highly Commended: Fastrack (Go-Ahead)
Finalist: Alzheimer’s Awareness (First Bus East of England)
Finalist: Double Decker Diaries (Stagecoach East)
Finalist: Route 38 Rewired (Arriva Derby)
Finalist: Youth Engagement Programme (West Yorkshire Bus Alliance)
Engineer of the Year sponsored by Buses Magazine
Winner, Gold Award: Martin Haldane (Lothian)
Winner, Silver Award: Steve Pither (Stagecoach South Wales)
Winner, Bronze Award: Graham Livesey (National Express West Midlands)
Finalist: Scot Nicholetti (Whippet)
Finalist: Tony Spencer (First Bus North & West Yorkshire)
Finalist: Andy Wilson (Go North West)
Finalist: Andrew Warrender (Stagecoach Manchester)
Environmental Innovation sponsored by CitySwift
Winner, Gold Award: Closed-loop de-inking system (Global)
Winner, Silver Award: VEV-IQ (Stagecoach Yorkshire)
Winner, Bronze Award: First Charge (First Bus)
Finalist: Greener from the ground up (Translink)
Finalist: Right Bus, Right Route (Grant Palmer)
Lifetime Contribution to the Bus Industry sponsored by Transport Benevolent Fund
Winner, Gold Award: Martin Dean, The Go-Ahead Group
London Bus Garage of the Year sponsored by Transport for London
Winner, Gold Award: Tolworth (First Bus London)
Winner, Silver Award: Sutton (Go-Ahead London)
Winner, Bronze Award: Kangley Bridge (Stagecoach London)
Finalist: Croydon (Go-Ahead London)
Finalist: Westbourne Park (First Bus London)
Luke Rees-Pulley Award for Top London Bus Driver sponsored by The Luke Rees-Pulley
Charitable Trust and TfL
Winner, Gold Award: Katarzyna Boczkaja (First Bus London)
Winner, Silver Award: Emma Samuels (Stagecoach London)
Winner, Bronze Award: Jay Songhurst (First Bus London)
Highly Commended: Musediku Mohammed (Metroline)
Finalist: Vincent Marcelo (First Bus London)
Finalist: Amal Marzouk (Transport UK London Bus)
Finalist: Catherine Mulumba (Stagecoach London)
Finalist: Shaniya Pinnock-Johnson (Stagecoach London)
Manager of the Year: The Andrew Wickham Memorial Award sponsored by Ridango
Winner, Gold Award: Jonathon Hunt (First Bus East of England)
Winner, Silver Award: Aleksandra Husejko (Grant Palmer)
Winner, Bronze Award: Toby France (Arriva Midlands)
Finalist: Chris Kelk (Stagecoach East Midlands)
Finalist: Gurpreet Sidhu (Metroline)
Finalist: Sam Teggart (Transport UK London Bus)
Finalist: Andrew Wilson (Translink)
Finalist: Jack Wright (Stagecoach East Midlands)
Marketing for Growth sponsored by Euro Bus Expo
Winner, Gold Award: Route 1X (Brighton & Hove Buses)
Winner, Silver Award: LibertyBus
Winner, Bronze Award: yLink and Youth-Led Engagement (Translink)
Highly Commended: 100 tickets for 100 years on the 100 service (Edwards Coaches)
Highly Commended: MK Loop (Milton Keynes Council & partners)
Finalist: Flightline (Heathrow)
Finalist: Rejuvenating inter-urban routes (Reading Buses)
Partnership for Excellence: The Peter Huntley Memorial Award sponsored by Leadership in
Passenger Transport Awards
Winner, Gold Award: Portsmouth Buses Partnership
Winner, Silver Award: Devon Bus Enhanced Partnership
Winner, Bronze Award: Hull Bus Alliance
Highly Commended: Student Travel Pass (Stagecoach East Midlands, trentbarton,
Notts County Council and West Notts College)
Highly Commended: Vision Awareness Training for Bus Drivers (Thomas Pocklington Trust & partners)
Finalist: West Northamptonshire Enhanced Partnership
Finalist: WheelsOnBoard (Moonbility and National Express West Midlands)
Recruitment and Retention sponsored by Camilleri Appointments
Winner, Gold Award: Level Up (Brighton & Hove Buses)
Winner, Silver Award: McGill’s Bus Group
Winner, Bronze Award: Stagecoach South
Highly Commended: More Women Like Us (Go South Coast)
Finalist: Stagecoach West
Finalist: Transdev Blazefield
ROSCO Award for Contribution to Safer Driving
Winner, Gold Award: Wayne Gibbins (Arriva London)
Winner, Silver Award: Busway Lion Scheme (Grant Palmer)
Winner, Bronze Award: Perry Avery (First Bus London)
Finalist: Specialist Passenger Solutions
Top City Operator sponsored by INIT
Winner, Gold Award: Lothian
Winner, Silver Award: Brighton & Hove Buses
Winner, Bronze Award: Arriva Leicester
Finalist: First Bus North & West Yorkshire
Top Contracted Operator sponsored by Local Transport Today
Winner, Gold Award: Diamond Bus North West
Winner, Silver Award: Go North West
Winner, Bronze Award: Stagecoach Manchester
Finalist: LibertyBus
Top National Bus Depot sponsored by Velociti
Winner, Gold Award: Poole (Morebus)
Winner, Silver Award: Dover (Stagecoach South East)
Winner, Bronze Award: Rawmarsh (Stagecoach Yorkshire)
Finalist: Aldershot (Stagecoach South)
Finalist: Bolton (Go North West)
Finalist: Coleraine Ulsterbus Depot (Translink)
Finalist: Witney (Stagecoach West)
Top National Bus Driver: The Chris Moyes Memorial Award sponsored by Passenger Transport
Winner, Gold Award: Zohra Rani (Nottingham City Transport)
Winner, Silver Award: Leon Davies (Dews Coaches)
Winner, Bronze Award: Iain Bonser (Stagecoach East Midlands)
Finalist: Andrew Bagshaw (Stagecoach Yorkshire)
Finalist: Alma Cox (Reading Buses)
Finalist: James Davidson (trentbarton)
Finalist: Mike Foran (Stagecoach West)
Top Shire Operator sponsored by Ticketer
Winner, Gold Award: Reading Buses
Winner, Silver Award: Metrobus
Winner, Bronze Award: First Bus York
Finalist: Arriva Shrewsbury and Telford
Finalist: East Yorkshire Buses
Finalist: Stagecoach South Wales
Finalist: Uno
Top SME Operator sponsored by Intsol Recruitment
Winner, Gold Award: Blackpool Transport
Winner, Silver Award: Sanders Coaches
Winner, Bronze Award: Warrington’s Own Buses
Finalist: Grant Palmer
Finalist: Huyton Travel
UK Bus Operator of the Year sponsored by C9 Recruitment
Winner, Gold Award: Blackpool Transport
Winner, Silver Award: Diamond Bus North West
Winner, Bronze Award: Reading Buses
Finalist: Lothian
Unsung Hero sponsored by Backhouse Jones
Winner, Gold Award: John Cowell (First Bus London)
Winner, Silver Award: Daniel Sanderson (Nottingham City Transport)
Winner, Bronze Award: Kevin Wallace (Translink)
Finalist: Will Dawson (Thames Valley Buses)
Finalist: Tracey-Anne Hancox (Stagecoach East)
Finalist: Bronagh McDonnell (Translink)
Young Manager of the Year sponsored by Young Bus Professionals
Winner, Gold Award: Isobel Hedley-Jones (Fastrack)
Winner, Silver Award: Khadija Janjua (Stagecoach London)
Winner, Bronze Award: Henry Young (Stagecoach South Wales)
Highly Commended: Stevie Collins (Go North West)
Finalist: Onyemaechi Akutu (First Bus London)
Finalist: Ana Stepic (Arriva Midlands)
