First Kernow has been named FirstGroup’s best team in the South of England and Wales at a company awards ceremony.

Colleagues at First Kernow took the Best Team Award at the inaugural First UK Bus Excellence Awards, beating off tough competition from teams based as far afield as Portsmouth in Hampshire and Kings Lynn in Norfolk.

Their winning citation highlighted their immediate and united response when, on March 13, Western Greyhound, Cornwall’s second largest bus operator, ceased trading. On that day, the First Kernow team ran emergency bus replacement services, recruited drivers made jobless by Western Greyhound’s closure and worked with stakeholder partner, Cornwall Council, to plan and produce a full network replacement for services throughout mid Cornwall.

The team then worked tirelessly throughout the weekend, gathering up the fleet of buses, compiling duties and rosters, training the newly recruited staff and preparing for the replacement services which were starting the following Monday.

As a result of their unstinting work, service disruption to the travel patterns on the Monday were minimal and feedback from customers and stakeholders was both positive and enthusiastic. The security and sustainability of the routes, and the staff, are also now guaranteed for at least the next 12 months.

“The evident team commitment and spirit towards this achievement has been immense. All credit to the First Kernow team,” the citation said.

Mel Williams, business manager of First Kernow, said: “This is the most unexpected honour for us. At the time, we were faced with a situation that we had to address swiftly and directly if bus services in Cornwall were to continue operating regularly.

“Everyone on the team without exception played their part and we are extremely proud to be recognised by our peers in such a wonderful way.”

For his contribution to the transformation of the First Kernow business, Alex Carter, First South West’s managing director was highly commended in the Leader of the Year Award, while Arron Kelly, Truro Park and Ride’s manager, was highly commended in the Young Manager of the Year category. First Kernow engineer Stuart Ladner was also shortlisted for the Engineer of the Year Award.

Mr Carter said: “Our achievements this year are a ringing endorsement of the tremendous team spirit which now exists within the business. I am immensely proud of and grateful to all the team for the enormous lengths they have gone to in making our business strong and secure.

“Our main objective is to provide an efficient and reliable bus service for our customers in Cornwall and these awards demonstrate that we on the right path towards achieving this.”