Lothian has crowned a new Driver of the Year following its annual Bus Driver of the Year final at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston on Thursday 22 May.

18 finalists from across the award-winning Lothian Group competed on the day, excelling in three specially designed challenges – a theory test, a practical road driving test and an obstacle course.

After an incredibly high standard of driving throughout the competition, Harvey Stroud from our Lothian Country team took first place overall, followed by Thomas Gilhooley (East Coast Buses) and John James Smith (Lothian City) in second and third place respectively.

The top three finishers will now go on and represent Lothian at the UK Bus Driver of the Year Final in Blackpool later this year, hoping to repeat the success of last year when Thomas Gilhooley was crowned UK Bus Driver of the Year.

Willie Hamilton, Operations Director for Lothian said: “Our drivers do an amazing job day in, day out delivering for over 2 million customers each week.”

“Our Driver of the Year event presents an excellent opportunity to bring together driving colleagues from across our business to showcase their skill, proficiency and professionalism, and this year’s competition has been no exception.

“I’d like to say thank you to all who took part and showed great competitive spirit throughout. Special congratulations go to Harvey, Thomas and John James on their success at the event. We’ll all be rooting for you in Blackpool!”