Bus Driver of the Year moves forward two weeks

Although preparations for next year’s Bus Driver of the Year (BDoY) competition won’t start until January, the date for the National Final is confirmed and a new director has been appointed.

Avoiding a clash with the switch-on of Blackpool Illuminations, the 57th National Final moves forward a fortnight to 14th September 2025.

As usual the competition will be held on Blackpool seafront and headquartered at The Imperial Hotel.

The organisers, The UK Bus Driver of the Year Association, hope to maintain the strong level of entries evident since the resumption of the competition in 2022 following the hiatus resulting from the COVID epidemic. Nevertheless, it is aiming to encourage more support from independent operators.

Meanwhile BDoY continues to strengthen its organising body, the Council, with the appointment of driver training expert Graeme Healy.

Replacing John Jardine, Mr Healy, 50, is a Dedicated Driving Examiner with Lothian Buses. Along with former Traffic Commissioner for the North West of England, Gerallt Evans, who was appointed earlier this year, he joins the 11-strong Council.

The competition to find the Bus Driver of the Year (BDoY) has its origins in the first practical skills competition for bus drivers in the UK organised in 1967 for Coventry Corporation drivers with an accident-free record in the previous year. By the mid-1970s the idea of a truly national competition had taken hold. Following a decline in support, the Council radically overhauled the content of the National Final from 1992 so that it more realistically reflected everyday driving conditions with a two-mile route through the streets of Blackpool and along Middle Walk on the resort’s famous seafront.