Last Thursday night, Uno recognised and rewarded the very best people and teams across its business with its inaugural People Against Ordinary Awards. Employees from Hatfield, Northampton and Cranfield came together to celebrate in style at the University of Hertfordshire’s Fielder Centre.
The scheme recognised thirty-six finalists across ten categories, including The Extraordinary Driver of the Year and The WOW! Award. The ceremony was attended by employees and their guests.
The highlight of the evening saw Lucy Calder, daughter of Hatfield driver Simon Calder, take to the stage as a special surprise guest to announce the winner of the Charity Star Award. Lucy suffers from a serious condition called arteriovenous malformation which is affecting her vision, she was there to say thank you and commend the fundraising efforts of her father’s colleague Neil Bates. Driver Neil raised over £4000 last year so Lucy could take the trip of a lifetime to Hollywood, USA with her family.
Jim Thorpe, managing director for Uno bus said: “Theses awards are so important to Uno, we are first and foremost a people business, and it’s our employees that make the real difference day in, day out. The awards not only recognise employees nominated by colleagues in the business, but the winners of The Awesome Awards are all nominated by our customers.”
Jim added: “The Charity Star Award was very special, such an emotional moment for Neil, and such a special evening for him as he went on to win Hatfield’s Awesome Award too! Congratulations to Neil and all of our winners on the night. We’re all really proud of you!”
The winners were:
- Extraordinary Driver of the Year – Cyril Raballand
- Extraordinary Team of the Year – Uno’s Engineering Team
- Extraordinary Engineer of the Year – Joint winners – Tony Foster and Ian Canvin
- The Charity Star – Neil Bates
- The WOW! Award – Jason Ball, Depot Manager Northampton
- The Awesome Award Cranfield – Barry Flynn
- The Awesome Award Northampton – Suzanne Lawes
- The Awesome Award Hatfield – Neil Bates
- The Special Recognition Award – Simba Cheza
- The Safety Award – Darren Richmond, Engineering Manager
- The Unsung Hero – Linda Gower