The skill and dedication of a National Express West Midlands bus driver has won him a place in an international awards ceremony.

Mark Young, from Hollywood in Birmingham, works at the National Express West Midlands Yardley Wood bus depot. Not only has Mark won the company’s Excellence Award for 2021 - he so impressed the judges that they put him forward to the global National Express grand final this winter.

Mark works as a trainer to other bus drivers, and his excellent coaching has put Yardley Wood garage at the top of the National Express leaderboard for driving skills. A review of the training process picked out Mark’s detailed and constructive coaching style as “setting a standard for best practice for the whole company”. So Mark’s approach has now been adopted across all National Express garages.

All National Express West Midlands buses are fitted with cameras which are triggered by any sudden movement. The recordings from these cameras are then uploaded and examined by the company’s training teams to ensure that the high professional standards of driving don’t start to slip.

Mark uses these video clips to coach 20-30 of his fellow drivers every week, in a friendly and supportive manner to improve driver performance - giving a safer and more comfortable ride for customers and other road users.

Chris Gibbens, Commercial Director at National Express West Midlands, said:

“I’m super proud that Mark will be representing Yardley Wood bus garage at the National Express global employee awards. It was Mark’s colleagues at Yardley Wood garage who put him in for this award. They wanted to draw attention to how much work he does behind the scenes, going above and beyond trying to help them improve and maintain their professional driving skills.”