Winners of the South West Contact Centre Awards 2012

The South West’s top contact centres celebrated success at the fourth annual South West Contact Centre Awards.

Read on to find out who the winners are….

Capital FM presenter and showbiz journalist Kevin Hughes hosted the Gala Awards Ceremony to an audience of 300 guests where a total of 19 presentations were made to a variety of worthy finalists from across the South West region.

The second award was presented to Bristol-based LV= in the category People Development, who were recognised for their significant achievements in the training and development of LV= staff.

Best Support Team went to UCAS’ HEI & Schools Team for their innovative use of social media to engage with customers.

The award for Best Outsourced Partnership went to Swindon-based 20:20 Dialogue who received the award for delivering seamless account handling on behalf of their Autoglass client.

For a consecutive year the award for Best Customer Service was presented to Nationwide Building Society, who impressed the judges through a second stage of mystery shopping. AXA Wealth were also highly commended for their customer service techniques.

The sixth award for Best Use of Technology was presented to South Gloucestershire Council for their Customer Contact Platform (CCP), which uses “assess and decide” technology to increase the resolution of customer enquiries at first point of contact.

The award for Best Public Sector Contact Centre was presented to Southwest One in respect of their customer-focused improvement strategy for centre and staff.

The eighth award for Best Private Sector Contact Centre was presented to Yeovil-based Screwfix for their excellent practice for both staff and customers. The judges felt that LV= must also be highly commended in this category.

Kirsty Watkins, Rosie Yates, Neil Dyte, Sarah-Jane Jacobs, Kevin Dix and Angela McLachlan were winners in the individual categories which were presented after dinner.

Neil Dyte of TMP Worldwide was announced Trainer of the Year for his innovative approach to training programmes which balance the needs of individuals and corporate objectives.

Support Person of the Year went to Kirsty Waktins, Brightside Group for her many initiatives to improve HR communications. While Claudia Miles of Brittany Ferries was also highly commended for her professionalism and versatility in the role.

Agent of the Year was presented to Rosie Yates of Dyson who was considered an excellent brand ambassador for the company. And Sarah Rouse, LV= was highly commended for her dedication and enthusiasm for the customer.

Sarah-Jane Jacobs scooped an award for The Bridge (LSL Property Services) in the Team Leader of the Year category for her first-class leadership and mentoring skills. Sam Metcalfe of Motability Operations was highly commended for her committed approach as team leader.

Manager of the Year with Under 100 Staff was presented to Kevin Dix, Swindon Capita Partnership for his superb management skills and excellent team performance, while Angela McLachlan was acknowledged to be Manager of the Year with Over 100 Staff for her success in driving new initiatives with outstanding results in challenging conditions.

The South West Contact Centre Awards aim to recognise the excellence in its ranks in order to improve perceptions of the industry and create a professional environment.

Jane Thomas, Managing Director of the South West Contact Centre Forum, said: “What a fantastic evening! This is our fourth year of running this wonderful event, and every year it just gets better.

“I would like to congratulate all the winners and finalists on their magnificent achievements. These awards are fiercely competitive and all those shortlisted should be justifiably proud, not just of their achievements, but to be an important part of such a dynamic sector in the South West.”

Katy Forsyth, Director of Red Recruitment, said “The contact centre industry is a great and growing industry in the South West. It continues to be instrumental to the growth of our region’s economy and provides great employment opportunities and careers of choice.  As industry professionals, I think it vitally important that we shout about all that the sector offers, the success of our contact centres and of their incumbent staff. For this reason, Red Recruitment, the region’s biggest and leading team of contact centre recruitment experts was thrilled to support these awards for another year – to help our industry get the recognition that it deserves.”