We took the shortlisted operators as judged by the UK Bus Awards 2010 panel and asked Omnibuses’ readers to select which they thought deserved to win in each category.
Norfolk Green came top in the UK Bus Awards followed by runner up Epsom
After a shaky voting start, the survey proved to be the second most popular, ever, on here. Here’s the results. The graphs refer to your votes, not those of the Awards panel. They appear pretty clear cut. The only major upset was that Western Greyhound pipped Bus Oscar winning Transdev Yellow Buses in the Shire Operator section.
UK Bus Awards selected TYB. Western Greyhound was runner up
I wonder why Brighton & Hove should be so revered when compared to, say, Stagecoach Manchester or Stagecoach Yorkshire. What makes them really exceptional? Indeed, Stagecoach Yorkshire was runner up in the City Operator UK Bus Awards category but finished third in the Omnibuses' vote. Or why Western Greyhound over Stagecoach East. What is it that makes some of these names more valued than others?
Brighton & Hove scored top at the UK Bus Awards, followed by Stagecoach Yorkshire as runner up
And why no Arriva or First subsidiaries in the mix? Did they enter or were they simply not selected? What does this say about local branding, if anything?
And why isn’t the award-winning B&H approach replicated across the UK, I wonder? Part of that’s to do with a local civic partnership, of course, but even so, there’s much at B&H that’s standalone and could be copied elsewhere.And would Brightonians concur?
11 comments:
I would think that Brighton & Hove is 'so revered' simply because they deserve it. Anyone who truly observes their services - and knows of the difficult, and ever-changing, conditions in which they have to operate - can't fail to be highly impressed.
Has a former PTE bus company ever won the main prize, or do they have the odds against them in that they're not fully in control of their own destiny?
Given the history of this blog, is it likely that the readership tends to be more southern-based?
Re b&h.its the roger french factor.also if you look at all the different categories the winners are all driven by one outstanding individual per company.trouble is there are not enough of them to go round.Again i applaud the proprieters of NG,WG,TRENT, B%H et al.
In your poll, I suspect many respondents will be biased away from big group entries. I know that for me, purely on an emotional level, a good performing "independent" is more attractive than a good performing major group subsiduary.
But B&H is part of a major group, of course. I wonder how well "Go Ahead Brighton & Hove" in a corporate Go Ahead livery would do in this poll. Not that I'm advocating that!
re last comment .thats the secret at go ahead .NO CORPORATE LIVERY.Big three watch and learn!!!Local branding works.the customers do relate to it.some corporate execs will never learn.
"What makes them exceptional?"
The UKBA judging is based on specific criteria, measured both by the submissions from the operators themselves, and by personal visits by the judges. You don't have that information, but it's entertaining to read all the same.
I've never been entirely convinced that B&H is the best thing since sliced bread as far as the industry is concerned. Yes they have a comprehensive network with good frequencies and a reliable working rti system but that is as much to do with having a supportive local authority rather than solely down to the local operator.
My experience of their service dleivery is somewhat less than outstanding and distinctly average, my sporadic and definately non-scientific observations as a non-Brighton resident and occasional visitor suggests their drivers suffer from 'middle aged grumpy man syndrome' as much as the next operator and driving standards observed in the busy central Brighton area were somewhat disconcerting with most buses bearing down on pedestrians at unacceptable speeds with liberal use of sharp braking and blasting the horn.
A lot of the judging for the bus operator of the year at the 'Bus Oscars' seems to come down to mystery shopper results - fair enough.
But an industry source told me that when the mystery shopper results didn't give the answers that the judges wanted, they simply sent out a fresh lot of mystery shoppers until they did get the results they wanted - and I quite believe that story.
It's all about perception after all.
I think most regular observers of B & H would guess that Anon at 20.20 was actually in Birmingham, Bexleyheath or Birkenhead.
In my experience he couldn't be much further adrift from a truthful analysis of B & H operations.
Re: Anon @ 20:20:
"....driving standards observed in the busy central Brighton area were somewhat disconcerting with most buses bearing down on pedestrians at unacceptable speeds with liberal use of sharp braking and blasting the horn."
Sorry - as a resident of Brighton for many years I do not recognise this description at all. Had you said 'taxis' rather than 'buses', I could agree with you... and some!
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