Stagecoach recognises star employees across the country

Stagecoach has named the winners of this year’s Stars Awards, its annual awards designed to recognise the shining stars and the employees who have delivered above and beyond.

Over 650 individuals were nominated across 12 different categories, covering service to customers, diversity and inclusion, safety, health and wellbeing, environment, community and innovation.

Employees were also recognised for looking after the health and wellbeing of colleagues, taking steps to make Stagecoach a greener company and creating new, innovative business ideas. Winners received a cash prize, as well as a gift experience voucher.

Carla Stockton-Jones, UK Managing Director for Stagecoach said: “All of our employees are stars and go above and beyond in their roles, however the people named as this year’s Stagecoach Stars really do showcase the best talent, generosity, positive spirit and kindness from across the UK.

“I am proud of all our nominees and winners for their efforts in not only connecting communities across our network but also supporting communities by helping to improve the way we do things and also outside their day jobs by fundraising, assisting and excelling in what they do.

“But we know that our people go above and beyond every day, so if you have an example of a great customer experience whilst using our services, we would love to hear from you by getting in touch with our customer service team – customer.services@stagecoachbus.com”

The full list of winners is detailed below:

Stagecoach Star of the Year and Top Team

Winners: Zachary McAskill and Jamie Stockton from Manchester

Operations Manager Zachary and Fleet Engineer Jamie worked hard to drive improvements and to generate a real team spirit across Ashton Depot. They brought everyone together as one big team and also helped to improve the fleet condition, presentation, and overall cleanliness. Their commitment to providing quality bus services for the community and their focus on employee morale is shown in the depot’s positive results and performance.

Moment of Truth

Winner: Glenn Oldman from London

Garage Supervisor Glenn Oldman helped save the life of a car driver when they’d had a suspected heart attack outside Barking Garage. Glenn performed CPR on him and was able to get the man’s pulse back and maintained this until the paramedics arrived on the scene. Amazingly, this isn’t the first life Glenn has saved through CPR.

Community Champion

Winners: Andrea Kavanagh and Kevin Mathias from South Wales

Andrea and Kevin selflessly give up their own time to raise money for good causes. Their amazing efforts include Andrea’s campaign with Porth Depot to raise money for LATCH Welsh children's cancer charity, Kevin’s fundraising through bike rides and daily 5K runs in May, and their joint efforts for food banks and fundraising for their colleague’s son who was born with only one arm.

 

Inclusion and Belonging Hero

Winners: Jamie-Lee Thornton and Sarah Rennie and from London

Jamie-Lee and Sarah created the workplace language content of London’s ‘Let’s talk equality, diversity and inclusion’ workshop, to help managers and supervisors gain a better understanding of while providing a safe space for open conversations. The course reflects on ‘real’ experiences of colleagues and looks in particular at radio etiquette and mis-gendering. Drivers in London will now also take part in an equality workshop as part of their CPC licence requirements.

Innovative Idea

Winner: Keith Wilson from Manchester

Sharston Engineer Keith Wilson designed and constructed a fantastic tool to remove rear ABS sensors from their electric vehicle fleet, reducing it from two days to a matter of hours. It means less downtime for the zero emission fleet, and a fantastic cost saving. With many years of experience in the industry, Keith has shown he still has the hunger and drive to succeed.

Stagecoach Superhero

Winner: Sid Sedani from London

Sid was furloughed during the pandemic, but this didn’t stop him contributing and appreciating the role of bus driver colleagues. He arranged meal boxes to be delivered to almost 2,000 drivers, which was welcomed by everyone when food places were closed or restricted. He also supervised remotely by regularly calling his home garage to see how things were. Sid also spends his spare time helping out in his local community and raising money through charitable events.

Inspirational Leader

Winner: Sam Smith from East Midlands

Sam helped Hull’s engineering team achieve fantastic improvements with their results, as well as working with people to increase morale and team spirit. He brought in new ways of working, updated the offices and changed the garage set-up so it worked efficiently. Sam not only has Hull working well, but is also helping other depots, and he’s earnt the respect of his team through hard work and delivering on what he’s promised.

Rising Star

Winner: Samantha Carling from Highlands

Samantha has the ambition to move into management and was asked to run the workshop in Inverness for a week to help out. She took to it with ease, organising the workforce and planning work to make sure it was completed on time and to a good standard. With no mechanical knowledge, she was smart enough to use the expertise of an experienced mechanic, showing her resourcefulness and determination. She stepped up at the drop of a hat and ran the show, and will make a fantastic future leader.

Sustainability Star

Winner: Daniel Stoller from London

Daniel was approached to restart their local Green Team meetings after the height of the pandemic. He quickly engaged with management teams to get Environmental Champions in place, and reviewed and updated London’s Environmental Policy to align it with the Stagecoach’s Sustainability Strategy. He their first meeting, they shared data around CO2 dashboards, waste disposal figures, and Green Road scores, as well as coming up with ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Daniel is now looking at streamlining the way London recycles as well as assessing the benefits of working with an external partner company.

Safety Hero

Winner: East Health & Safety Reps

The reps in East have worked hard to rebuild their local safety culture, starting as new to the position and creating a long-term vision called KOPS (Keeping our people safe) – with a goal of reducing employee accidents across the East by 25% every year for the next three years by raising awareness and educating people. They’ve rolled out the initiative at depots through pop-up events around near miss reporting, know your role and know your route, with a focus on training, hazard perception and accident reduction. Although they’ve not yet fully met their targets, they’ve improved safety with a reduction in accidents across all three years.

Customer Experience Champion

Winner: Will Taylor from North East

Will Taylor has had an overwhelming amount of comments from our customers about how much they genuinely appreciate the excellent customer service he gives to each one every day. They love him for his polite, friendly and helpful service, helping his customers with information and ticket options. Many commented on the smile and “hello” he gives to everyone getting on, and he also says goodbye to each one, too. He’s described as an excellent driver who makes travel a little brighter, and makes a difference to people’s days.

Outstanding Performance

Winners: Colt Gough, Simeranjeet Dhillon and Phillip Walker from Midlands

Colt and Simeranjeet saw an elderly gentleman at a bus stop on the outskirts of a village. Concerned for his welfare, they stopped to ask if he was OK and it became apparent that he was suffering from dementia and from the cold. After managing to contact his nursing home, Phillip, who lives in the area, kindly offered to take him home. Together, their acts of kindness helped someone who had been in a lonely and frightening situation.

ENDS