And our Star of the Year 2026 is…

We returned to the Hilton Hotel, Kennet Island, Reading on Saturday 23 February 2026 for a sparkling night of celebration at our 14th annual Night with the Stars event.

This event saw us recognise and reward our employees who have done great things over the past 12 months, ending with the announcement of our new overall star for the past year. 

Our Driving, Support and Engineering stars

Following the celebrations of our individual Stars for each Month, we named our Driving, Support and Engineering stars for 2026 before crowning our overall Star. 

Devonn Reid was named our Driving Star for 2026, being recognised after winning Star of the Month twice during the yearonce for intervening when two passengers were making other passengers uneasy, and the second for stepping in to help after a serious accident happened in front of his bus, even though he wasn’t involved.

We awarded our Engineering Star to Robert Yellop in recognition of his commitment, attention to detail and high standard of workmanship. 

Sandra Amarante was awarded our support star for playing an important role in helping drivers to improve their performance through the use of high-tech telematics data and more traditional one-to-one training. 

Our Star the Year

There can only be one overall Star of the Year, however, and from our Driving, Support and Engineering Stars we were delighted to announce that Devonn Reid was our Star of the Year for 2026.

Devonn Reid was recognised not just for his hard work and dedication but also for his caring attitude and for helping assist others around him. Throughout the year Devonn has stepped up when it matters most, earning the respect of colleagues and heartfelt thanks from customers with his actions reflecting the very best of what it means to be a professional driver and ambassador for Reading Buses. 

more awards

In addition to our Driving, Support and Engineering Stars, we also took time to award some additional stars. 

Our Community Hero Star was awarded to driver James Allwright who was recognised for his exceptional care, professionalism and calm when supporting vulnerable members of the public.

Our Customer Champion was Receptionist and Customer Services Assistant Paula Smith, who was recognised for her dedication, reliability and positive attitude, all of which has helped set a standard for customer care. 

Vehicle Parts Supervisor Ryan Hunt was recognised as our Unsung Hero for 2026, receiving recognition for his hard work behind the scenes, problem-solving and keeping things moving.

Finally, our Rising Star award went to Commercial Assistant Richard Windley, who was recognised for his care, attention to detail and genuine commitment to representing the organisation and the needs of our customers. 

We also celebrated the retirement of our long-standing HR Director Caroline Anscombe, awarding her a very special Guiding Star award, which recognised her 36 years of hard work for Reading Buses and the influence on the culture she has had throughout her career, along with her professionalism, commitment, and steady support of colleagues. 

Our evening saw the voice of our onboard announcements and radio personality David Sheppard return once again as our compere for the evening, helping to provide additional sparkle and wit throughout our ceremony.

Our evening ended with a charity raffle, raising money for our new Charity of the Year, Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs. Tickets for the raffle were purchased by attendees throughout the night, raising over £500. 

We would like to thank all our employees who helped make 2025 great and look forward to next year’s Night with the Stars!

a big thanks to our sponsors

Our night was a huge success and could not have been possible without the support and generosity of our sponsors. 

We’d like to thank our headline sponsor Alexander Dennis, as well as Bus and Coach World, R2P, Velociti, Power Fleet, PSV Transport Systems, Lazzerini, FCL, Uniform Express, Michelin and Dawson Group.

Their contributions to our evening allowed us to help make sure that everyone had the best evening possible.