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| PRESS RELEASE (17 April 2008) |
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| Ilkeston Bus Driver Takes Annual Award |
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A BUS driver from Ilkeston who “has a friendly word all his passengers” has been named Driver of the Year by trent barton.
Ian Grebby, who has worked from the Langley Mill bus depot for the last nine years, took the accolade at a gala awards night at Derby’s Pride Park (WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL) hosted by Catchphrase host Roy Walker.
Mystery travellers who judge the award – which wins the 21 route driver between Ilkeston and Nottingham a £1,000 holiday and an extra day off every year with pay – described 38-year-old Ian as a “star performer in every way, finding time for a friendly or helpful word with just about everyone, but still managing to provide a relaxing, really smooth and punctual ride”.
Each month, the drivers at trent barton are rated on their presentation and appearance, attitude to passengers, customer care and courtesy. The finalists are made up of the monthly winners.
Ian is a regular winner of the ‘driver of the month’ awards. He was runner-up for the annual title four years ago, and was third 12 months ago.
This is the sixth year of the company’s ‘Driver of the Year – Really Good Service’ awards. It’s the second time that a male driver has won the annual title out of 900 trentbarton drivers.
However, the ladies weren’t to be outdone. They took the runner-up spot and another female driver was highly commended.
In second place was Jayne Phillips, from Huthwaite, who works from the Sutton bus depot. She drives on the nines service between Derby and Mansfield and has been with the company since 2002.
Highly commended was Linda Morrell, from Selston, who has worked for trent barton for four years. Based at Langley Mill bus depot, she is usually found at the wheel of the 23 and 27 town routes in Ilkeston. She took the ‘driver of the month’ title twice during the year.
The company also made several ‘Outstanding Achievement’ awards.
The winner was Matthew Shaw, of Burton Joyce, who works at the Broadmarsh bus depot in Nottingham
Eagle-eyed Matthew spotted that a lady had just been missed a rainbow 4 bus going the other way from him. Knowing that she would have had a long wait on a cold and miserable January night, he stopped his bus, took the lady to the nearest taxi office and even gave her £20 from his own pocket to pay the fare. The result was a very thankful customer.
Runner-up was Mick Howes, from Chapel-en-le-Frith, who works from the Doveholes bus depot.
When Mick was unlucky enough to break down on a wet autumn night he walked to the depot for his own car which he then used to take his two passengers all the way to their destination – and that meant going to Manchester Airport. Mick even turned down the money to cover his petrol.
Highly commended was Michael Janjua, from Hyson Green, another driver at the Broadmarsh depot.
When a pensioner missed her lift from the theatre in Nottingham, she hopped on Michael’s late night rainbow 5 bus hoping that she’d make a connection at Long Eaton to reach home. Michael quickly worked out that she was too late for that – so to her surprise and great delight he put in a masterful detour to take her right to her front door.
The Broadmarsh bus depot received the company’s ‘Depot of the Year’ award which is judged on really good customer service right down to the fewest customer complaints and all of the mystery traveler scores combined. The award is sponsored by Belmont International, a respected name in the bus industry thanks to their work as independent insurance brokers and financial services.
Ian Morgan, the commercial director of trent barton, who handed over the prizes on the night, said: “This is a celebration of everything that we do to delight our customers. Everyone here is a winner.
“All of our finalists are true champions whose dedication and meticulous customer care are typical of the whole trent barton team. No one underestimates how difficult a bus driver’s job is in terms of running to a timetable< |
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