London, UK: Gillian Brooks, a driver with Gist, has been named Microlise Driver of the Year Award for 2020, beating more than 225,000 other UK drivers and becoming the first female driver to win the award.
Brooks, pictured above, who has more than 30 years’ experience as an HGV driver, has been with Gist for around two-and-a-half years, based at its Hemel Hempstead site.
At the age of 25, Gillian was asked by her mother what she wanted to do and her response was ‘to drive trucks.’ Her mum used her life savings and paid for Gillian to sit and pass her HGV and PSV licenses at a time when female drivers were virtually unheard of.
Since then Gillian has enjoyed a great driving career and works to encourage more women into the business.
Gillian is also winner of the Long Distance category in this year’s awards which features drivers who regularly undertake journeys of more than 60,000 miles per year.
Fellow Gist driver John Bushby was also honoured in the awards, winning the HGV Hero category. John’s life-saving actions were featured on the BBC’s Caught on Camera programme earlier this year.
Michael Chambers, chief executive, Gist, said: “Gillian and John’s awards recognise their professionalism, technical driving skill and commitment to safety – everything we expect from our drivers. Congratulations to them both.”
