Nottingham City Transport has won the award for ‘UK Bus Operator of the Year’ in the country’s most prestigious national industry awards!
Having also been crowned as the 2012 ‘City Operator of the Year’ at the ceremony, NCT qualified for the ‘UK Bus Operator of the Year’ category and went head to head with Top Shire Operator, Reading Buses and Top Independent Operator Ensignbus to win ‘the Big One’.
Streaking ahead of the competition in several criteria, including customer satisfaction, growth and innovation, Managing Director, Mark Fowles couldn’t be more thrilled with the news.
NCT Staff and Managers celebrating our success at the 2012 UK Bus Awards
“The whole team at Nottingham City Transport work very hard to provide our city with the best bus service possible, so to be recognised as the top bus operator in the whole of the UK by our peers is a fantastic accolade.” says Mark. “We are incredibly proud of our drivers and all those behind the scenes that support them in giving an excellent service for our passengers every day.”
UK Bus Awards Chairman, John Owen, adds, “We live in challenging economic times, yet the bus industry has continued to innovate and invest for the future. Our aim is to recognise and reward projects and organisations that are really pushing the boundaries in terms of innovation, marketing and technology.”
NCT's Mark Fowles and Nicola Tidy are joined by Cllr Brian Parbutt, NCT Chairman to receive our award from Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of Passenger Focus (far right).
This is the 11th consecutive year that Nottingham’s principal bus operator has been nominated for a UK Bus award and this year they also took home the runners-up prize in a brand new category – ‘Making Buses a Better Choice: the Peter Huntley Memorial Award’, for the company’s ongoing development in communications technology and social media to make their services more attractive to customers. Nearly 25,000 people follow NCT on social media, making them the most followed bus operator in the region.
The NCT team – which included managers, engineers and drivers – were presented with their awards at the London Hilton Hotel on 20 November 2012, during a special ceremony attended by over 700 industry figures, and guest of honour, Norman Baker MP – Parliament Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport.
Why we Won…. What the Judges Said:
A top quality bus operator in the UK’s least car-dependent city and with the Passenger Focus Bus Passenger Survey showing customer satisfaction of over 91%, amongst the highest in the UK, Nottingham City Transport has put into service sixty-eight brand new buses in twelve months, introduced frequency enhancements on twenty routes and invested in staff and technology, generating patronage growth of 2.1% in the difficult economic climate of the last year.
As one of the best examples of successful local authority partnership and with much else to be admired in the way this company has developed in recent years, the judges drew particular attention to its commitment to customer research, providing easily-accessible real time information, and staff training and welfare.
For more details about the UK Bus Awards, visit their website.