- Group’s bus and rail staff from UK and North America honoured
Transport operator Stagecoach has recognised employees from across its bus and rail operations at the Group’s 2014 Stagecoach Champions Awards.
The winning employees were honoured for their outstanding achievements at an awards ceremony in London last week.
Gold, silver and bronze awards were given out across six categories - Health, Innovation, Customer Service, Environment, Safety and Community.
The awards were judged by Chair of Stagecoach Group’s Health, Safety and Environment Committee, Helen Mahy along with Stagecoach co-founder and Board Director Ann Gloag and Director of Corporate Communications Steven Stewart.
The winners, who came from across the UK as well as from North America and Canada, received a trophy and a cash prize at the awards dinner. All of the Group’s divisions were represented with winners from UK Bus, East Midlands Trains, South West Trains, Supertram, Coach USA and Coach Canada.
Awarding the prizes, Helen Mahy said: “I would like to congratulate all of our champions. We had a record number of entries this year and that the job of selecting the most worthy was as difficult as ever.
“We have a great team of 35,000 employees across the Group who are crucial in delivering our bus and rail services day in, day out. Awards like these can only recognise a small fraction of our people but they remind us of the fantastic work that goes on across the business.
“We look forward to receiving even more nominations, and hearing about the wonderful work of even more of our employees during next year’s awards.”
The 2014 Stagecoach Champions are listed below:
Safety Champion
- Gold Award - Ian Smart, Stagecoach West Scotland, UK Bus
Ian has an impressive 25 years’ service and has built up a great reputation among customers and colleagues for being a safe and cautious driver. Ian recently received a safe driving diploma from the Road Operators' Safety Council for 13 years’ accident free driving.
- Silver Award - Darren Ward, East Midlands Trains
Darren has been the driving force behind a number of projects which have included partnership working with unions, British Transport Police and Network Rail to boost level crossing safety; improving suicide prevention and trauma support.
- Bronze Award - Yolanda Perez, Coach USA
Yolanda transports workers to the mines in Nevada and faced a tough situation when an out-of-control truck became lodged against her vehicle’s left front bumper. Yolanda calmly braked slowly and steered both vehicles to safety on the shoulder of the highway.
Environment Champion
Our shortlisted entrants are:
- Gold Award - Dan Moule, Stagecoach London, UK Bus
Dan is the green team champion at Plumstead Depot in London and has put in place a new system of metal recycling which led to the local metal recycling company paid the depot a much higher price for the items than had been achieved before. Dan’s initiative has inspired other green team members to follow his lead and maximise the value of the waste
- Sarah Hall, South West Trains
As a result of Sarah’s work and that of her team, the company has won awards for reducing energy use and the title of Green Station of the Year. Just as importantly, she has helped her staff gain nationally recognised qualifications.
- Ray Pass, Stagecoach West, UK Bus
Ray has a key role in the Green Travel to Work programme and as well as public transport promotes cycling and car sharing. He also works in partnership with other companies and organisations, from the police and health service to rail operators and local authorities, to deliver practical improvements.
Health Champion
- Gold Award - Albert Flores, Coach USA
Albert’s quick-thinking actions saved the life of a colleague even though they were 400 miles apart. He took a call from his colleague Bernie White and could tell that Bernie needed medical attention fast. With Bernie unable to talk, Albert asked Bernie to tap answers in response to his questions as he tried to pinpoint his location. He quickly established Bernie was in his hotel room and kept him on the line while getting hotel staff to call 911. A few minutes later, the paramedics arrived at the hotel room and helped save Bernie's life.
- Silver Award - Lisa Rana, Coach USA
Lisa Rana has introduced several nationwide wellness initiatives to help Coach USA and megabus.com employees. The first programme is a partnership between Coach USA and Weight Watchers and the second initiative - called the Accelerometer programme - promotes health through increased physical activity and is being tested by 100 employees in 10 locations across the United States.
- Gold Award - Alison Hawkes, Stagecoach London, UK Bus
Alison was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and endured tough treatment and surgery over many months before returning to work in 2013. She also developed a determination to do something positive, taking part in a run in aid of Breast Cancer Care and raising £1200. Since then she has got involved with a cancer support group helping under 45s and has also revealed (almost) all, literally, for a magazine article to be published on the subject of breast cancer surgery scars.
Innovation Champion
- Gold Award - London West Ham Garage. Stagecoach UK Bus
This year the judges decided that the West Ham depot as a whole deserved to be shortlisted following a number of nominations in this category. The team at West Ham, particularly on the engineering side, have shown numerous examples of innovation including analysis of vehicle defects, tracking of warranty claims, the development of a fuel additive flushing kit and a money-saving brake calliper test and repair system.
- Silver Award - Treana Hudson, Stagecoach Supertram
Treana devised the Supersafe community initiative to help promote independent travel for more vulnerable passengers, with mascot Supertram Man at the heart of the campaign. Treana has worked tirelessly to raise the profile of the campaign in local schools and amongst elderly group forums and Supertram Man is also now part of local football club Sheffield Wednesday’s community programme.
- Bronze Award - Sarah Pridie, Coach Canada
Sarah has been shortlisted for her excellent work in getting the GPS telematics technology working better for the business by maximizing the scope of the technology. Her work has helped in a number of ways and Sarah also works one-on-one with mechanics so they understand her requirements.
Community Champion
- Gold Award - Stagecoach North East “Driving Santas” team, UK Bus
During December each year, local residents of Newcastle, South Shields, Sunderland, Teesside and Hartlepool are taken to their destination by the “Driving Santas” as part of Stagecoach North East’s fundraising efforts. In December 2013, across the Stagecoach North East depots, staff raised an impressive £25,250, beating the 2012 total of just over £20,300.
- Silver Award - Glen Fiddy, East Midlands Trains
As one of only two members of staff at Melton Mowbray station, Glen has transformed the facility and earned praise from customers and staff alike. He got local primary schools involved in a successful community artwork project and in his own time, he has given the station a fresh coat of paint, scoured antiques markets to collect old railway pictures for the station waiting room and has even come into work on days off to clear the snow.
- Bronze Award - Peter Clay, East Midlands Trains
Peter’s inspiration, enthusiasm and persistence kickstarted what is now an annual East Midlands Trains charity train initiative - an idea also now taken up by other train companies. The first charity train organised by Peter raised £25,000 for the Railway Children.
Customer Service Champion
- Gold Award - Dominic Hill, South West Trains
Dominic delivers amazing customer service on a consistent basis. One example was after a landslide when was faced with 200 passengers with no immediate transport available. Dominic kept passengers well-informed and in good spirits and when taxis became available, and people were hesitant to put themselves forward, he started a pub quiz with whoever got the question right winning a place in the next taxi.
- Silver Award - Graham Miles, Stagecoach South, UK Bus
Graham was nominated by around 20 regular customers who say he is an “excellent bus driver and impossible to replace”. He literally runs a door-to-door service, taking passengers’ shopping across the road, even into the house for some elderly passengers. He even knows exactly which shopping trolley and bag belongs to whom and also helps mums with their buggies.
- Bronze Award - Yvonne Clay, East Midlands Trains
Yvonne is seen as the “mother figure” at East Midlands Trains' Norwich depot and she has built up great relationships with colleagues and customers as well as raisinf money for railway charities and volunteering for the Mid-Norfolk Railway. When dealing with a customer who was worried about missing a flight. Yvonne gave him her phone so he could advise ground staff he was running late. She also called a taxi for the customer to have it ready and waiting to take him to the airport.