Organisations and individuals championing safer roads have been recognised for their outstanding work at Brake’s UK Fleet Champions Awards 2026. Held last night (Wednesday 30 September 2026) at
Organisations and individuals championing safer roads have been recognised for their outstanding work at Brake’s UK Fleet Champions Awards 2026.
Held last night (Wednesday 30 September 2026) at New Dock Hall at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, the event brought together more than 300 people from across the fleet sector to reveal the winners and runners-up of 12 awards.
A highlight of the evening was the announcement of the winner of the Kevin Storey Award for Outstanding Commitment to Road Safety. This special award is given every year to someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in their commitment to road safety, not just within their organisation but through the wider community.
This year’s winner, Vicki McCarthy from VolkerRail, has demonstrated a profound and sustained commitment to road safety after the death of her 16-year-old daughter in a crash in 2014. Alongside a professional role as a training coordinator for a large fleet, McCarthy has become a powerful advocate for road safety – delivering talks and sharing her lived experience to help people understand the real-world consequences of unsafe driving, particularly among young drivers.
The award was presented in memory of McCarthy’s daughter, Jordanna. McCarthy took to the stage to receive her award to a standing ovation – the audience visibly moved by her win and her heartfelt acceptance speech.
McCarthy said: “I’ve missed out on so many opportunities and so many memories. I will never get the opportunity to plump my daughter’s wedding dress. I don’t want another parent to be in my shoes, living my heartache, my nightmare. And that is why I do what I do. I can only say thank you to [the people] who have stood beside me in my darkest moments, in the grief. This is an absolute honour. Thank you.”
McCarthy received her award from Marcus Bray, sales director at Fleet Service GB. In a fitting full-circle moment, Marcus’s father – Fleet Service GB chairman Geoffrey Bray – was a recipient of the exact same award back in 2009.
VolkerRail also picked up the title for Company Driver Safety – Large, while Greggs achieved a double win, clinching the Small Fleet version alongside the prestigious Dr Will Murray Award for Analysis and Action.
Other winners included Samsara, which claimed the Fleet Safety Technology Innovation Award, while TTC Group & Kier Group took the Fleet Safety Partnership Award, along with Vodafone Automotive & United Utilities. The Fleet Team of the Year Award went to Whistl while the Road Risk Manager of the Year Award was presented to Ray Cowpe from Arriva Northwest & Wales.
In total, 51 organisations and individuals were shortlisted for their outstanding commitment to road safety. The winners were chosen by an independent panel of judges from across the fleet industry.
Brake’s CEO Ross Moorlock commented: “The organisations being recognised tonight are not simply collecting awards plaques; they are setting benchmarks for an entire sector. They are proving that road safety and business performance go hand in hand. And they are demonstrating that protecting people is not a compliance exercise; it is a leadership responsibility.”
Moorlock also highlighted that road safety is fundamentally a human issue, with real people at the heart of business decisions and performance, and behind road collision statistics. He brought to the crowd’s attention the fact that in 2025, nearly one-third of all road deaths – an estimated 445 people – involved somebody who was driving for work.
He went on to acknowledge the Government’s Road Safety Strategy that was published in January, but added that there is urgency in translating targets into meaningful change. “Strategies do not save lives,” he said. “Action saves lives. Investment saves lives. Leadership saves lives.”
Moorlock told the audience that Brake’s National Road Victim Service is currently supporting around 1,000 people across the UK whose lives have been devastated by road death and injury, with an estimated 2,000 new referrals into the service this year alone.
He also spoke of Brake’s work providing police forces across the UK with specialist bereavement boxes and property bags so that when someone dies on the road, their belongings can be returned to their family with compassion and dignity.
Moorlock said: “We continue to do all of this without any central government funding across England and Wales. We remain incredibly grateful to the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland for their commitment to supporting road crash victims in Scotland. But elsewhere, everything I have described tonight exists because of our funders, partners, sponsors and fundraising evenings exactly like this one.”
For the third consecutive year, Driving for Better Business by National Highways was Brake’s delivery partner, while fleet telematics provider Quartix was the headline sponsor for this year’s awards. A further 10 fleet suppliers and organisations sponsored individual award categories.
Winner: VolkerRail
Highly Commended 1: Arriva Northwest & Wales
Highly Commended 2: MJ Quinn Integrated Services
Winner: Greggs
Highly Commended: Ferns Surfacing
Winner: Greggs
Highly Commended 1: VolkerRail
Highly Commended 2: Whistl
Winner: Seerpic
Highly Commended: British Transport Police
Winner 1: TTC Group & Kier Group
Winner 2: Vodafone Automotive & United Utilities
Highly Commended: Motormax & Tarmac
Winner: Samsara
Highly Commended 1: HAAS Alert
Highly Commended 2: Licence Check
Winner: Whistl
Highly Commended 1: Ferns Surfacing
Winner: Ray Cowpe – Arriva Northwest & Wales
Highly Commended 1: Huw Watts – South East Coast Ambulance Service
Highly Commended 2: Chris Walker – Eurocell
Winner: Guy Best – GBA logistics
Winner: VolkerHighways
Highly Commended: Warwickshire County Council
Winner: Drainline Southern
Highly Commended 1: Centrica
Highly Commended 2: Greggs
Winner: Vicki McCarthy – VolkerRail
Full details of the awards winners are online here.
