Top customer service award for United Utilities call centre staff

United Utilities call centre staff have been awarded The Institute of Customer Service, Service Mark with Distinction.

The customer service teams in Warrington and Whitehaven achieved 94.7 per cent for customer satisfaction and 93.98 per cent for employee satisfaction according to the Institute of Customer Service. United Utilities is one of only 15 companies to be awarded the Service Mark with Distinction.

Julie Wright, a customer section manager based in Warrington, said: "I'm proud to live and work in North West and the team at Warrington takes great pride in providing the best service to our customers.

"We're an essential service that people depend on so we're here to help no matter how you might contact us. We're always on the look-out for ways we can keep improving and to get this recognition from the Institute of Customer Service is just great for everyone," she added.

To achieve this exemplary standard in customer service, hundreds of interviews with employees and customers were carried out by the Institute. The final part of the accreditation was a week of interviews with employees to understand the water and wastewater company's performance, policies, processes, commitment and engagement with its seven million customers.

According to the Institute's Report: "The Customer Services team at United Utilities put customers in the centre. This was evident right from the start and throughout the assessment. Far from resting on their laurels, they seem to have stepped up the focus on service delivery even more. The team drive the culture of service excellence and live and breathe the values that they expect their teams to demonstrate. Everyone I spoke with showed dedication and pride in what they do. And a desire to not only deliver a great customer experience but to continue pushing themselves to do better, to continuously improve."

Louise Beardmore, United Utilities' Customer Services and People Director, said: "We are delighted that having gone through such a rigorous assessment we have achieved distinction status.

"We are one of only 15 companies to have achieved Service Mark with Distinction across a wide range of sectors and that's testimony to everyone's hard work and commitment right across United Utilities."