We're so lucky – Nottingham City Transport does it again!

THIS IS SO OLD HAT… 

NOW FOR THE 5TH TIME IT'S
UK BUS OPERATOR OF THE YEAR!

It is so easy to forget how good the buses are in Nottingham and it's a pity that the national and regional media, with all the talk right now about transport, us being as we are in the middle of a general election campaign, ignores the annual UK Bus Awards. It's the same every year, so here is my attempt at sharing the good news with you, thanks to a press release I received from Nottingham City Transport.

Nottingham City Transport have won five of the top gongs at the 2019 UK Bus Awards in London on Tuesday, including the highly contested ‘best in show’ category, UK Bus Operator of the Year (which NCT has now won for a record breaking five times).

Jatinder Kumar took the Top National Bus Driver title sponsored by Volvo Bus. This is the second year in a row a bus driver from the Nottingham bus company has won the coveted award, following Aaron Johnson’s win last year.

HR Admin Manager, Sheila Swift won the Unsung Hero accolade sponsored by Backhouse Jones, recognising her 37 years of dedicated service at the company and NCT’s Managing Director Mark Fowles was presented with the Services to the Bus Industry honour sponsored by Buses Magazine.

 No one could knock NCT off the top spot either, as Nottingham City Transport took the gold once again in the Top City Operator category, sponsored by INIT Innovations, which saw them through to the grand final where they went on to win the UK Bus Operator of the Year, sponsored by Gallagher & QBE Insurance.

NCT previously won UK Bus Operator of the Year in 2004, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Newly crowned, Top National Bus Driver Jatinder, fought off competition from tens of thousands of bus drivers nationwide. The award recognises outstanding achievements in delivering exceptional customer service and always going above and beyond to exceed passengers’ expectations.

Jatinder is described by Nottingham City Transport as ‘one of the most compassionate and caring people you could ever meet.’ Jatinder grew up in a rural Indian village, he moved to the UK so he could pay for his sisters' education, and putting other people first comes second nature to him. A recent mystery traveller assessment read: "He is a perfectionist, doing his job to the maximum with no fuss and a pleasure to travel with. A fantastic asset to the company."

Unsung Hero winner Sheila's love, commitment and dedication to NCT over nearly 4 decades is unquestionable. Joining City of Nottingham Transport in 1981 as a short-hand typist, Sheila has progressed to be Nottingham City Transport’s HR Admin Manager, where she has responsibility for recruitment, making sure NCT's rules, policies and procedures are followed, delivering many HR projects and GDPR compliance.

Mark Yexley, Chairman of the UK Bus Awards, said: “A massive congratulations to Nottingham City Transport! To win five awards, including Top National Driver and Bus Operator of the Year, is an outstanding achievement. The judges were really impressed with the investment the business is making in its fleet and infrastructure too. The company has seen fleet emissions fall by 90% and 8000 tonnes of CO2 and 70 tonnes of NOX emissions were avoided in the last 12 months. They also commended the company’s substantial investment in gas buses and its achievement in encouraging and attracting more young people on to its services.”

Mark added: “Jatinder’s dedication shone through, and Sheila’s outstanding contribution over the past 37 years to the business has been remarkable, just as Mark Fowles commitment has to the industry where he has become synonymous with high standards, innovation and a clear intent to put customers at the heart of everything it does.”

“The whole city should be immensely proud of the company and its employees!”

Nottingham City Transport’s Jack Moore was also a finalist in the Engineer of the Year category.

Anthony Carver-Smith, NCT Marketing Manager commented, “Wow! 2019 has been the best year yet for Nottingham City Transport at the UK Bus Awards and we are over the moon to have been crowned UK Bus Operator of the Year for a record breaking fifth time! A massive thank you to everyone throughout NCT who work so tirelessly to deliver the best bus service in the country! It is without a doubt the people within NCT that make it so successful, as demonstrated by Sheila, Jatinder and Mark winning awards today”.

The last 36 to Chilwell. One of my favourite photographs, taken close to midnight at the Beeston Interchange. If I was fitter I would take more such photographs of Nottingham buses late at night. In so many other towns, the last bus would have been in the garage by 9 or 10 o'clock. You can see why I've headlined this post 'We're so lucky'.