National Express marks 17 years of Partner Operator Awards
National Express, the UK's leading coach operator, recently celebrated its partner operator in its annual National Express Operator Partnership (NEOP) Awards, recognising the essential role they play in ensuring the company can provide reliable, safe and comfortable coach travel for millions of passengers every year. The awards, now in its 17th year, took place at the Windmill Village Hotel in Coventry, welcoming attendees from across the UK and Ireland. The NEOP Awards reflect National Express' commitment to providing the highest standards across its network.
Each of the 30 operators is measured based on an evaluation table and the winners determined by their performance and scores in areas such as driver excellence, coach cleanliness and quality and customer service. Among the big winners for 2024 were Travelstar European, crowned partner Operator of the Year for their consistent gold standard performance in operations and engineering. Other winners included Quinn's Coach Hire for Best Fleet, Skills Motor Group for Most Improved Operator, and Martin Hanlon of Bruce Coaches taking the coveted Driver of the Year title.
Ed Rickard, Network Director for National Express, praised the exceptional performance and commitment to excellence shown by the winners.
He said: "Our operators play an essential role in our network and we are delighted to recognise their hard work, dedication and outstanding service through our annual awards. We're proud to have them on board and extend our heartfelt thanks and congratulations to all the winners!"
Full List of Winners:
- Best Fleet: Quinns Coach Hire
- Driving Out Harm Award: E Stott & Sons
- Go Green Award: Bruce Coaches
- Most Improved Operator: Skills Motor Coaches
- Driver of the Year: Martin Hanlon (Bruce Coaches)
- Customer Experience Excellence: Galloway European
- Engineer of the Year: Asan Fazal (Travelstar European)
- Operational Manager of the Year: Craig Jackson (Travelstar European)
- Operator of the Year (1 - 5 Vehicles): E Stott & Sons
- Operator of the Year (6 - 10 Vehicles): Bennetts Coaches
- Operator of the Year (11 - 20 Vehicles): Travelstar European
- Operator of the Year (21+ Vehicles): Edwards Coaches Wales
- Overall Operator of the Year: Travelstar European
Golden Spanner Awards, recognising operators who have consistently met and exceeded expectations, introducing best practice across engineering:
- Ambassador Travel
- Bennetts Coaches
- Bruce Coaches
- Chalfont Coaches of Harrow
- Edwards Coaches Wales
- Edwards Coaches Bristol
- Lucketts Bournemouth
- Lucketts Travel
- National Express Start Hill
- National Express Luton
- NXTS Aston
- National Express London
- Oxford Bus Company
- Parks of Hamilton (Plymouth)
- Selwyns Travel (Runcorn)
- Selwyns Travel (Manchester)
- E Stott & Sons
- The Kings Ferry Dover
- Travelstar European
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