This category focuses on managers within the industry – of any age, discipline or background – who are already showing great potential to take their careers in an upward direction. Finalists must demonstrate clear evidence of progress to date, and how they have excelled in their role.

Please note that if members of the judging panel believe that a submission to Rising Star is better suited to consideration in the appropriate Manager of the Year or Engineer of the Year category, they may transfer the entry.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Your contribution to the business's success over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026.
• How you have developed professionally during this period – including any new responsibilities, skills, qualifications or training undertaken
• An example of where you have shown initiative or gone beyond the expectations of your role
• How you communicate with customers, colleagues, staff and partners at all levels
• How you have managed budgets, tasks and processes
• How you demonstrate a consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion in your work and the benefits that has returned.

This category is for the manager who has shown commitment and enthusiasm and an excellent ability to motivate, and how they have made a personal contribution to a small/medium-sized operator.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Improvements and personal contributions you have delivered over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, and how they have made a difference to the business
• How you have managed budgets, tasks and processes
• How you have met, or exceeded, performance indicators used to manage your part of the business
• How you lead, motivate and get the best from your team — with a specific example from the last 12 months
• How you have responded to a challenge or period of change, and the outcome of that
• How you demonstrate a consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion in your work, and the benefits that has returned.

This category is for the manager with proven abilities and who has shown commitment and enthusiasm and an excellent ability to motivate. They have also personally contributed to their organisation.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Improvements and personal contributions you have delivered over the 12 months from April 2025 to 31 March 2026, and how they have made a difference to the business
• How you have managed budgets, tasks and processes
• How you have met, or exceeded, performance indicators used to manage your part of the business
• How you lead, motivate and get the best from your team — with a specific example from the last 12 months
• How you have responded to a challenge or period of change, and what the outcome was
• How you demonstrate a consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion in your work, and the benefits that has returned.

This category recognises the operator that has put its customers’ experience at the forefront of its thinking and intends to keep it there. Entrants must demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the customer and how such an approach has delivered benefits to the business.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• How the customer experience has tangibly improved over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• Details of processes put in place to ensure the highest customer satisfaction
• How customer experience/satisfaction is measured
• Examples of where a customer’s expectations have been exceeded
• How staff are encouraged to deliver the best customer experience to ensure the highest satisfaction at all times
• How diversity, equity and inclusion factors into the business’s thinking about its customers and the benefits that has returned.

This category recognises and rewards the talents of a skilled engineering manager, head of engineering or an engineering director who has direct responsibility for fleet maintenance or vehicle availability.

Entrants must demonstrate how they have contributed to the upholding of vehicle compliance and engineering standards; managed complex tasks and processes; met specified targets; and shown effective communication skills.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Improvements and personal contributions you have delivered over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, and how they have made a difference to the business
• How you have managed excellent vehicle compliance and reliability standards, budgets, tasks and processes
• How you have met, or exceeded, performance indicators that are used to manage your part of the business
• An example of a significant engineering challenge you faced during this period and how you resolved it
• How you demonstrate a consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion in your work and the benefits that has returned.

This category recognises and rewards the talents of a skilled engineering manager, head of engineering or engineering director who has direct responsibility for fleet maintenance or vehicle availability.

Entrants must demonstrate how they have contributed to the upholding of vehicle compliance and engineering standards; managed complex tasks and processes; met specified targets; and shown effective communication skills.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Improvements and personal contributions you have delivered over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, and how they have made a difference to the business
• How you have managed excellent vehicle compliance and reliability standards, budgets, tasks and processes
• How you have met, or exceeded, performance indicators that are used to manage your part of the business
• An example of a significant engineering challenge you faced during this period and how you resolved it
• How you demonstrate a consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion in your work and the benefits that has returned.

This category is strictly for coach operators that have delivered their own coach tourism programmes, including holidays and/or day trips. Entrants will display innovation and have derived commercial success through that work, while also delighting their customers and showcasing coach tourism at its finest.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• How the business has listened to its existing customers to develop the quality of its coach tourism product offering over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• How the business showcases its coach tourism programme to existing and new customers
• What the business considers when composing its coach tourism programme
• Details of the commercial success that the coach tourism programme has delivered to the business
• Any unusual elements of the day trip or holiday programme
• How the business has reduced its coach tourism programme’s environmental impact
• How diversity, equity and inclusion factors into the business’s thinking and the benefits that has returned.

This category recognises where a coach operator has displayed innovation in one part or multiple parts of its business, and the benefits that approach has brought. Deployment can involve any combination of technology platforms or services, physical items or workplace strategies to bring improvement and efficiency across any aspect of operating coaches.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Details of the innovation(s) that has or have been introduced by the business over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• Why the business felt it necessary to introduce the items that are within its entry
• Details of any training, communications and stakeholder engagement plans that were implemented to obtain best results
• How diversity, equity and inclusion was considered as part of the innovation implementation (design / accessibility / process / training / different backgrounds involved in decision making?)
• Details of the benefits that the innovation has brought to the business, its employees or customers since introduction.

This category recognises where a bus operator has displayed innovation in one part or multiple parts of its business, and the benefits that approach has brought. Deployment can involve any combination of technology platforms or services, physical items or workplace strategies to bring improvement and efficiency across any aspect of operating buses.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Details of the innovation(s) that has or have been introduced by the business over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• Why the business felt it necessary to introduce the items that are within its entry
• Details of any training, communications and stakeholder engagement plans that were implemented to obtain best results
• How diversity, equity and inclusion was considered as part of the innovation implementation (design / accessibility / process / training / different backgrounds involved in decision making)
• Details of the benefits that the innovation has brought to the business, its employees or customers since introduction.

This category is for the operator with a strong commitment to a sustainable future across its business. Entrants are encouraged to consider the widest possible picture and should provide evidence showing how such an approach flows through their operation.

The entry statement should address the following areas: 

• An overview of the sustainability work introduced across the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• Why you felt it was necessary to introduce these measures
• The measurable benefits that have resulted for the business, its employees, its customers or wider society, and how were these achieved
• How you measure and track the impact of the sustainability work
• How stakeholders have been engaged with regarding the sustainability work (e.g staff training, internal and external communications etc.)
• How diversity, equity and inclusion factored into the business's thinking regarding this specific sustainability work, and what benefits that has delivered.

This category is for the small coach operator that demonstrates a commitment to quality, progress, training and customer service.

Eligibility for this category is strictly dependent on the combined total number of coaches and minicoaches operated, not overall fleet size. It considers the operator as a whole, not on an individual depot basis, and is open to all eligible businesses regardless of the predominant size of vehicle that they run.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Details of how the business has progressed over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• How the business has focussed on quality improvement across the organisation
• Proof of a commitment to staff development, including a description of its impact on the business and its employees – including details of any training programmes
• How the business delivers excellent customer service, and what feedback or evidence demonstrates customer satisfaction
• How the business has responded to any challenges it faced during this period
• How diversity, equity and inclusion factors into the business's thinking and the benefits that has returned.

This category is for the medium-sized coach operator that demonstrates a commitment to quality, progress and customer service.

Eligibility for this category is strictly dependent on the combined total number of coaches and minicoaches operated, not overall fleet size. It considers the operator as a whole, not on an individual depot basis, and is open to all eligible businesses regardless of the predominant size of vehicle that they run.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Details of how the business has progressed over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• How the business has focussed on quality improvement across the organisation
• Proof of a commitment to staff development, including a description of its impact on the business and its employees – including details of any training programmes
• How the business delivers excellent customer service, and what feedback or evidence demonstrates customer satisfaction
• How the business has responded to any challenges it faced during this period
• How diversity, equity and inclusion factors into the business's thinking and the benefits that has returned.

This category focuses on exceptional performance of small/medium bus operators, with evidence to show exemplary service in every respect.

Eligibility for this category is strictly dependent on the total number of buses operated. It considers the operator as a whole, not on an individual depot basis. Operators may submit only one application for Bus Operator of the Year categories.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Details of how the business has progressed over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• How the business has focussed on quality improvement across the organisation
• Proof of a commitment to staff development, including a description of its impact on the business and its employees – including details of any training programmes
• How the business delivers excellent customer service, and what feedback or evidence demonstrates customer satisfaction
• How the business has responded to any challenges it faced during this period
• How diversity, equity and inclusion factors into the business's thinking and the benefits that has returned

This category is for the large coach operator that demonstrates a commitment to quality, progress and customer service.

Eligibility for this category is strictly dependent on the combined total number of coaches and minicoaches operated, not overall fleet size. It considers the operator as a whole, not on an individual depot basis, and is open to all eligible businesses regardless of the predominant size of vehicle that they run.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Details of how the business has progressed over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• How the business has focussed on quality improvement across the organisation
• Proof of a commitment to staff development, including a description of its impact on the business and its employees – including details of any training programmes
• How the business delivers excellent customer service, and what feedback or evidence demonstrates customer satisfaction
• How the business has responded to any challenges it has faced during this period
• How diversity, equity and inclusion factors into the business's thinking and the benefits that has returned.

This category focuses on exceptional performance of large bus operators, with evidence to show exemplary service in every respect.

Eligibility for this category is strictly dependent on the total number of buses operated. It considers the operator as a whole, not on an individual depot basis. Operators may submit only one application for Bus Operator of the Year categories.

The entry statement should address the following areas:

• Details of how the business has progressed over the 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• How the business has focussed on quality improvement across the organisation
• Proof of a commitment to staff development, including a description of its impact on the business and its employees – including details of any training programmes
• How the business delivers excellent customer service, and what feedback or evidence demonstrates customer satisfaction
• How the business has responded to any challenges it has faced during this period
• How diversity, equity and inclusion factors into the business's thinking and the benefits that has returned.