16 October 2007

Bakers Coaches award for commitment to training

Bakers Coaches of Biddulph has been praised by transport industry insiders for its commitment to staff training. The company has won the Operator Training of the Year, category in the 2007 Route One Operator Excellence Awards. These were presented at a prestige dinner held at the National Motor Cycle Museum on 10 October, in conjunction with the Coach and Bus Exhibition.



The awards are based on votes from those who know the business – i.e. the industry’s manufacturers, dealers, and suppliers who had the option of naming up to three operators in various categories. Five operators were then short-listed and invited to support their nomination by providing supporting evidence for the panel of expert judges.



In making the award to Bakers Coaches the judges said: “In recent years the industry has been subject to an extraordinary amount of new legislation. Bakers has always risen to the challenge, recognising the positives and leading the field in training its personnel in good time for implementation and compliance.”



Managing Director Phil Baker said, “Training has always been central to the business strategy at Bakers Coaches. We are also grateful for the support provided by Jerome Norris, managing director of Pax Training and Development, a specialist training provider to the passenger transport industry. Jerome has been associated with Bakers since 2003.



Bakers Coaches has pursued various training initiatives since it became a member of the Guild of British Coach Operators in 1989. The company was accredited with the Investor in People standard in 1998 and has recently set up a dedicated training division to develop further as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for driver training.

Left to right: Mike Morgan Editor of Route One magazine, Phil Baker and Jerome Norris.