Winning driver cannot believe his Lucketts

Stephen Small from Gosport competed against more than 20,000 drivers to win the prize, awarded by National Express.

The 36-year-old started working for the Fareham-based firm in April 2017 and is the second Lucketts employee to pick up the company’s prestigious award

He said: ‘I was so surprised to hear I’d won driver of the month.

‘National Express has a lot of drivers so to be picked is a huge honour.

‘Talking to customers is my favourite part of the job so it’s nice to be rewarded for it.’

Stephen has been inundated with praise from customers and staff alike ever since he joined the company.

One of his customers said: ‘From the moment we boarded the coach until we arrived, I cannot praise him enough.

‘His safety briefing and facts announced along the way made the whole journey a lot more pleasurable.’

Tony Lawman, managing director of Lucketts Travel is thrilled that Stephen picked up the prize.

He said: ‘Hearing such fantastic feedback about our staff really makes our day.

‘We work hard to give our drivers the best training to deliver outstanding customer service and Stephen is a prime example.

‘He’s a natural with customers and we’re thrilled he’s won this award.’

Lucketts runs more than 100 journeys every day on behalf of National Express and has twice received the firm’s Golden Spanner award for the way it maintains its vehicles.

Stephen learnt to drive coaches at Lucketts’ training academy. He will now go on to compete for National Express’ driver of the year.’