Supported by

The Professional Driver QSi Awards are returning to Brighton — and you won’t want to miss this celebration of the very best in our industry!

Join us at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Brighton on Friday, January 22, 2027, for an unforgettable evening honouring outstanding operators, drivers and cars across the taxi, chauffeur and private hire industry.

You told us January was the ideal time to celebrate, away from the hectic run-up to Christmas — and we listened. Now firmly established in our January calendar, the QSi Awards offer the perfect opportunity to bring your team together, celebrate your achievements and start the year in style.

With Gold, Silver and Bronze honours across 10 categories, our 2027 winners will have every reason to celebrate — and prestigious titles to carry proudly throughout the year.

We’ll also reveal the Professional Driver Cars of the Year, adding another highlight to an evening packed with recognition, excitement and celebration.

Save the date: Friday, January 22, 2027. Brighton is the place to be — and the QSi Awards are an occasion not to be missed!

QSi Updates

QSI Charity 2027 - Think Pink: Drivers of change

thinkpinkdrivers.uk

Our mission

  • To create meaningful career opportunities enabling success in male dominated occupations.
  • To give women the opportunity to get flexible, well-paid work so they can balance providing for their families with their home life.
  • To provide a community of support through mentoring and friendship by women drivers for women drivers.
  • To create independence and social mobility for women through economic empowerment.

10 PROFESSIONAL DRIVER QSI AWARDS CATEGORIES

qsi awards 2026 logo

Private Hire Operator, 1-80 cars

Smaller private hire or taxi operators, running standard taxis or minicabs, based anywhere in the United Kingdom.

qsi awards 2026 logo

Private Hire Operator, 81+ cars

Large private hire or taxi operators, running standard taxis or minicabs, based anywhere in the United Kingdom.

qsi awards 2026 logo

Chauffeur Operator, 1-10 cars

Luxury licensed chauffeur car operators, running cars of at least Mercedes-Benz E-class/BMW 5-series standard, based anywhere in the United Kingdom.

qsi awards 2026 logo

Chauffeur Operator, 10+ cars

Larger fleets of luxury licensed chauffeur car operators, running cars of at least Mercedes-Benz E-class/BMW 5-series standard, based anywhere in the United Kingdom.

qsi awards 2026 logo

MARKETING AWARD

Chauffeur, taxi or private hire operators, irrespective of size, that promote and market their operations in the most creative and original way across a range of media.

qsi awards 2026 logo

ENVIRONMENT AWARD

Companies that show a genuine commitment to being eco-friendly, and have adopted environmentally-friendly policies that have made a positive impact on their overall business. Open to all chauffeur, taxi and private hire operators.

qsi awards 2026 logo

NEW START OPERATOR AWARD

Chauffeur, taxi or private hire companies, irrespective of size, that have been operating in their current form since January 1, 2021. Open to genuine new-start operations or those where a change of ownership has resulted in a major change in the direction of the business.

qsi awards 2026 logo

Business Diversification Award

A new award designed to recognise operators that have grown their business by adding new business strands in a related or unrelated sector. Open to all chauffeur, taxi and private hire operators, irrespective of size.

qsi awards 2026 logo

COMMUNITY AWARD

Chauffeur, taxi or private hire operators, irrespective of size, that make extraordinary efforts to provide an exceptional service within their local area. These are companies that engage with local businesses and organisations like real local heroes.

qsi awards 2026 logo

PROFESSIONAL DRIVER OF THE YEAR

An individual driver or chauffeur, to be nominated by the operator or employer, who provides the absolute highest standard of service in terms of driving skills, customer service and personality.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO ENTER THE PROFESSIONAL DRIVER QSI AWARDS?

All chauffeur company of the Year Awards: Luxury chauffeur and executive car operators, based anywhere in the United Kingdom.

All private hire company of the Year Awards: Private Hire and taxi operators, running cars mostly below the chauffeur car standards detailed above, based anywhere in the United Kingdom. Companies with mixed private hire and hackney carriage licenses are eligible, but purely hackney carriage fleets are not eligible.

For all chauffeur company and private hire company awards, fleet size is defined as the number of vehicles being operated by or on behalf of the company on a typical working day. It can therefore include both company-owned vehicles and driver-owned vehicles working exclusively for the company entering the award.

HOW ARE THE AWARDS JUDGED?

The finalists are selected by an independent panel of experts, chaired by Professional Driver editor Mark Bursa.

Shortlisted finalists will be chosen from the entries for each category, and Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will be given to the top three in each category.

Meet the judges

Mark Bursa

Mark Bursa

Mark Bursa

Editor, Motor Trader, 1986-1990.

Mark Bursa is one of the most respected journalists in the automotive business. He is a two-time winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers Journalist of the Year Award (1993 and 2020) and he has been covering automotive topics since 1984.

Mark has edited many titles including Automotive Management, Automotive International, Automotive Manufacturer and FT Automotive Emerging Markets, as well as authoring a number of best-selling Financial Times automotive reports.

He has also won a PPA Award in 1992 – the “industry Oscars” for the publishing business, as well as the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Business Writer of the Year award on two occasions (2013, 2020), as well as the Editor of the Year award (2020).

Under his stewardship, Professional Driver won Business Magazine of the Year in the 2017 Newspress Awards.

Judging tip:

“More is more! Telling the whole story is so important when the judges are looking at each company. Do not hold back and supply as much information as possible.”

Gary Jacobs

Gary Jacobs

Gary Jacobs

Gary is a Fellow of the Association of Certified Public Accountants and is a director of Drivertax, an accountancy firm that specialises in serving professional drivers. He has over twenty years’ experience of offering business advice within the Chauffeur and Private Hire trade.

He is considered the ‘Go-to expert’ having been involved with all aspects of our industry including sitting as a trade adviser on the Private Hire Board, being involved in the Red Route Campaign, being the official driver accountant for the GMB professional Drivers Branch and The Institute of Professional Drivers and Chauffeurs.

He is regularly featured as an industry authority in leading trade magazines, including of course Professional Driver, he also speaks at many industry events and seminars on tax and finance matters.

Gary brings his vast experience of the financial aspects of this sector to the table. This is Gary’s third year as a Judge with the QSI Awards.

Mike Galvin

Mike Galvin

Mike Galvin

Mike began his taxi and PH career as a Licensed London Taxi Driver when he was 26. After a few years he was well known and controversial contributor to most of the trade press. He became an active officer of the LTDA and shortly afterwards began work for the LTDA’s wholly owned subsidiary Computer Cab Limited. Mike also had a significant role at Group Level being European Director of Operations for Cabcharge (Europe) Ltd which involved establishing and managing a 17 country network. During his 19 year career at Computer Cab (Later ComCab) Mike rose to become Group Chief Executive Officer and ran the company during the peak of its turnover and profitability in London and Scotland. After this Mike worked for Transport for London (TfL) for 7.5 years in Strategy and Planning and then Business Operations. Mike left TfL to work for Addison Lee assisting the owners and then the Executive Team with Public Policy Regulatory Affairs, National and international expansion and innovation. Mike’s next role was working for the Renault owned Flit Technologies as Global COO. Mike now operates as a freelance consultant and non-executive director, advisory board member and advisor to a range of companies.

Mike was a Magistrate for 13 years sitting in the Adult, Family and Youth Courts as well as hearing appeals at Snaresbrook Crown Court. He was also a Main Board Director of Go Skills the Sector Skills Council and Scottish Regional Chairman. Academically Mike has a plethora of qualifications including an MBA and DBA. His doctoral dissertation was based on the Culture, Change and The Management of London’s Taxi Drivers.

Dave Goldring

Dave Goldring

Dave Goldring

Now Chief Commercial officer at CabFusion Dave has been in the industry for nearly 20 years.

As a part of the original Cabfind Management team, Head of Supply at Karhoo, Head of Supply Chain Management at Brunel, and Head of Partnership Management at Gett.

Dave also had a career in the music industry a long time ago... With a record deal from Universal Records and a Publishing deal from Sony Music... Ask nicely and he'll show you the videos!

Rachel Dale

Rachel Dale

Rachel Dale

With years of industry experience and managing businesses, Rachel is a transportation specialist with a vast array of experience. Her career has been all things “taxi and private hire”.

With years of experience in all areas of managing and growing successful companies including dispatch, licensing, recruitment, project management and a proven track record in managing and delivering public sector and corporate contracts.

Rachel is a qualified Government approved business mentor, IoL trained in licensing, advisory member to the Institute of Licensing and passionate about industry initiatives, primarily driver-centric ones, supporting and mentoring drivers and operators to succeed.

Rachel has herself been a QSi Award winner, accepting a Gold Award in 2022 for Marketing with her “females in the fleet” initiative.

Steve Lynch

Steve Lynch

Steve Lynch

After a successful 18-year career as an electrical engineer in the paper industry, Steve Lynch sought a life change, and started his own chauffeur business, Sterling Service, in 2006.

The company currently operates four Mercedes-Benz S-class and two V-class cars, with a team of drivers, looking after a mix of private, corporate, high profile, HNW, VIP, and VVIP clients.

The work spans everything from straight A to B transfers to multi-week residential services, national tours, and a fully managed Limo desk with 20 VIP cars for corporate conferences or entertainment.

Steve serves as a director and executive committee member of the Guild of Professional Chauffeurs, a role he describes as “a compliment I value tremendously”.

He says: “To be trusted as a Director of GoPC moves this to another level for me. To work with the very best in our industry, to make new relationships, and to serve those new friends is an honour.”

QSI Award Sponsors

The sponsors of these awards span the whole private hire and chauffeuring chain; from manufacturers to expert suppliers. They are not simply leaders in their own right but a powerful collective force, which wields influence and expertise inside and outside of private hire and chauffeuring. Together, they are inspiring and supporting transportation excellence.

Supported by