Five Welsh contact centre employees have received top accolades for helping to pull their industry through the recession.
Anita Lush, Andrew Bradshaw, Roy Werrett, Donna Walker and Sarah Sturla were recipients of a prestigious Welsh Contact Centre Award at a glittering ceremony at City Hall in Cardiff.
The five were presented with their awards television presenter Tim Vincent. Guests were also treated to a performance by singing sensation Shaheen Jafargholi.
The Welsh Contact Centre Awards, which have been running for 12 years, celebrate the excellence of individuals, teams and companies working within Wales’ 160 contact centres. Despite the effects of the recession, the industry still employs 30,000 people and pumps £400m a year into the Welsh economy.
Anita is an employee at HSBC Direct in Swansea, Andrew at Yell Ltd in Newport, Roy at British Gas, Donna at Vertex Data Solutions and Sarah at ING Direct, all in Cardiff.
Anita won the Manager of a team of over 100 category, Andrew the Manager of a team of under 100, Roy the Team Leader, Donna the Support Person and Sarah the Agent award.
Six company awards were up for grabs along with the individual prizes. These were won by Gladiator Insurance for Retention, British Gas for People Development and Support Team, Black Horse for Customer Service, Barclays for Best Use of Welsh, Dŵr Cymru for Resource Planning, and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) at Her Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS) for Shared Services.
This year the awards were held in association with International Business Wales (IBW) / Welsh Assembly Government and www.CardiffJobs.co.uk.
Andrew Bradshaw, who has worked at Yell Ltd for two and a half years, said: “I feel very honoured to have won this award and I feel it is recognition for the hard work everyone in our Newport office has put in over the past year.
“Obviously the recession has been a challenge for most businesses but we remain a very customer-centric organisation that believes its customers value a high-quality service. By managing the call centre effectively and ensuring our people are empowered and coached properly I believe we have achieved the right balance between delivering a cost efficient operation coupled with an excellent customer experience.”
Sandra Busby, managing director of the Welsh Contact Centre Forum, said: “To be even a finalist in these awards is a huge achievement because competition is so stiff. This year the entries were of a higher standard than ever, and I put this down to individuals and companies striving for higher standards during these tough economic times in a bid to hold onto their customers.”
