Thurrock Business awards celebrated business success at the Civic Hall, Blackshots on Friday 8th March.

Ensignbus were shortlisted for three of the awards: Environmental Awareness, Excellent Customer Service and Logistics & Distribution.

Local bus company Ensignbus is celebrating winning one of the Bus Oscars by securing one of the top accolades at the UK Bus Awards. The company won the award for Top Independent Operator before an audience of over 700 industry movers and shakers at a glittering ceremony at the London Hilton on Park Lane having been chosen by the judges from over 270 entries.

The lunchtime ceremony was hosted by BBC News Presenter Jane Hill and the Keynote Address was given by Norman Baker MP - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport; Anthony Smith, Chief Executive, Passenger Focus presented the Awards.

Ensignbus also featured jointly with First Essex Buses as runner-up in the Eureka! Award for Marketing Initiatives for the popular CollegeBUS scheme that runs between the Thurrock-based colleges and outlying areas throughout Essex.

The award comes hot on the heels of Ensignbus having just invested heavily in and now operating, Essex’s very first diesel-electric hybrid buses that offer fuel and emission savings of nearly 40%. The judges comments reflected reliability figures amongst the best in the country and innovations that had led to bus usage growth in an area that had previously not had a sustainable network of services. Peter Newman, Chairman of Ensignbus commented “We are a local company, not some huge multi-national serving our local community, so it’s a great achievement to be voted the UK’s top Independent operator and is a great reflection on all the work every member of the team puts in. We operate in a challenging environment both economically and particularly operationally being based around two of Europe’s busiest shopping centres, Europe’s busiest motorway and a key trunk road into and out of London.”

“In this year when we are celebrating our 40th anniversary as a company, have just put state-of-the-art vehicles into service, it was great to celebrate such an award with so many of our staff present there on the day.”

Congratulating the successful finalists, UK Bus Awards chairman John Owen commented: “Our winners today cover the wide range of disciplines involved in the bus industry. Our aim is to recognise and reward projects and organisations that are really pushing the boundaries in terms of innovation, marketing and technology. But, crucially, to focus on the people and the partnerships that keep the wheels turning, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

“We still live in challenging economic times, yet the bus industry has continued to innovate and invest for the future. The record number of entries for this year is testament to the commitment continually to raise the bar in terms of service quality in this, the Awards' 17th year,” he continued.

Purfleet based local Bus operator Ensignbus has been short listed, for two separate awards at this years UK Bus Awards. The awards which are in their 17th year are known in the industry as the 'Bus Oscars'. This is the first time that Ensignbus have been nominated in two categories, which are The Independent Operator of the Year , and along with partner company First Essex Buses, for the Eureka! Award for initiative in local bus operations for the jointly run CollegeBus scheme.

Congratulating all the shortlisted entries, UK Bus Awards chairman John Owen commented: "It has been a bumper year for entries, proving that the industry really is determined to grow and improve.

"The number and quality of entries in, has made for interesting and lively judging panels. In some cases the scoring was very close indeed - testament to the quality of the nominations," he continued. With the standards so high, results are inevitably going to be very close. "I wish all the nominees every success at this year's event in November," he added.

Ensignbus has since 2004 built up a network of commercially run bus services serving Thurrock, Brentwood, Bluewater and most recently Basildon that today carry over 3.5 million passengers per year. Commenting on the short list success, Peter Newman, Chairman of Ensignbus said, 'We are of course very proud to have reached this stage in the competition, which is a great achievement in its own right and is a great reflection on the people we have working so hard and diligently here'.

He continued 'it would be a fantastic way to finish this year, in which the company is celebrating its 40th birthday, if we could go the extra yard and win the title.' The event itself takes place on Tuesday 20 November at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, London.