Stagecoach Group is the most admired of the UK’s major five bus and rail groups for the second year in a row, according to an authoritative survey of corporate reputation.

Management Today’s annual review of Britain’s top companies, now in its 16th year, again placed Stagecoach above Go Ahead, First Group, Arriva and National Express.

The 2009 Britain’s Most Admired Companies survey covers more than 230 businesses across 25 sectors.

The Perth-based group was second only to easyJet in the full transport sector survey, which compared 10 companies.

Conducted by Birmingham City Business School, the survey is a peer review of corporate reputation using responses from board level representatives of competitors, as well as analysts and City commentators.

The survey covers nine performance criteria, which include:

  * quality of management
  * financial soundness
  * quality of goods and services
  * ability to attract, develop and retain top talent
  * value as a long-term investment
  * capacity to innovate
  * quality of marketing
  * community and environmental responsibility
  * use of corporate assets

Across all companies in the transport sector, Stagecoach was rated first for the quality of management, and second for its financial soundness. Among the big five bus and rail groups, Stagecoach was rated top in five out of the nine criteria.

Steven Stewart, Director of Corporate Communications, said: “We are delighted to have been recognised one again by our peers and other stakeholders for the high reputation of our management and our business.

“Despite the challenging economic environment, we have continued to focus on delivering high-quality good value travel to our customers. Our strategy of targeting organic growth in our greener smarter public transport services has given the business a firm foundation as we continue to deliver long-term value to our shareholders.”

Last year, Stagecoach was rated the most ethical of the UK’s big five public transport groups in a survey carried out by the Observer newspaper in conjunction with Co-operative Asset Management. The Group was rated in the top 10% of UK plcs in the second annual Good Companies Guide, which assesses the performance of all the shares in the FTSE 350 index against a range of social, environmental and ethical criteria