Abellio Greater Anglia has recognised employees at its Customer Contact Centre for delivering excellent customer service which saw them score top marks in a recent ‘mystery shopping’ survey.

Amanda Green and Estelle Christie, both from Norwich, work in the train operator’s Customer Contact Centre in Norwich as Customer Relations Advisors and were praised for their friendly, helpful and professional manner when dealing with customers’ enquiries on the telephone.

Both received a score of 100% for excellent customer service when secretly assessed by mystery shoppers whilst carrying out their duties – Amanda’s eighth 100% score in the last two years!

Amanda has clocked up 23 years’ service with the railway since joining at the age of 19 and working first as an On Train Catering Assistant and then in Retail Communications as a Train Announcer before joining the Customer Relations team.

Customer Relations Supervisor, John Nelson, said:

“It’s great to have received such positive feedback for our team members. As a department we’ve been working really hard to ensure that we provide the best level of service to all of our customers and this is an excellent example of how it can be done. I’d like to extend my congratulations and thanks to Amanda and Estelle for their commitment and effort, and for leading the way in the provision of great customer service.”

Customer service and quality standards at Abellio Greater Anglia stations are assessed on a regular basis and Amanda and Estelle achieved their perfect scores when assessed as part of a recent mystery shopping exercise carried out between 17th August and 13th September 2014.

Andrew Goodrum, Abellio Greater Anglia’s Customer Services Director, said:

“Since the Abellio Greater Anglia franchise began, we have been concentrating our efforts on improving the customer experience; one important element of this is to give our staff additional training, enabling them to provide the best service possible for the over two million passengers a week using our services in London and the East Anglia region.”

A familiar face returns to Bramley Lakes.

2015 sees the return of Kat Tindall as General Manager of Bramley Lakes Learning and Development in Norwich. Kat brings a diverse range of experience to Bramley Lakes having spent the majority of her career in consultancy and corporate Learning & Development roles.

In addition to taking responsibility for running the centre, she will work with the facilitation team to continue developing innovative leadership programmes that make a real difference to clients’ team effectiveness. Her considerable experience in Graduate Development, Assessment Centre design and delivery and Executive Coaching means that Bramley Lakes can continue to offer solutions that support the whole employee lifecycle with a consistent set of behaviours and values.

“Having worked for Bramley Lakes in the past as both a Facilitator and Business Development Manager it is exciting to be back heading up the centre at a time of growth” Kat said. “The really great thing is that in addition to the Leadership programmes and Team Building events we deliver as our core, we are working on more and more Recruitment Assessment Centres and Graduate Development programmes. Whilst this is a reassuring result of the improving employment picture, to me it more importantly signals that more organisations are assessing behaviours and attitudes at the point of recruitment which will improve their retention and team effectiveness. I am looking forward to reconnecting with the East Anglian business community and feel proud to be working with a passionate team who live our values and the models we share every day.”

When not at work, Kat enjoys acting and singing, cooking up a storm for friends and family and exploring the North Norfolk coast that has been her home for the last 8 years with her Husband Chris and 5 year old son Sam.

CIS, an Acteon Company that installs conductors and piles for the oil and gas and nearshore marine construction industries, has been awarded the prestigious President’s Award for Occupational Health and Safety from the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).   

The President’s Award recognises CIS for earning its 10th consecutive Gold Medal, which is awarded in honour of an organisation’s commitment to preventing accidents and ill health.    

14 Years Without A Lost-time Incident

Since opening its doors in 2005, CIS has executed more than 1,500 pile and conductor installation operations for the nearshore marine, subsea, and oil and gas industries around the world. During that time, CIS has operated without a single accident or Lost Time Incident (LTI).

“Whether it’s driving piles for foundations in the nearshore marine construction market, installing pin piles for subsea marine contractors or conductors for oil and gas wells, we are extremely vigilant when it comes to safety,” said James Chadd, Managing Director CIS. “Our mission is to ensure that our industry has a bright and buoyant future.  One of the ways we aim to achieve this is to ensure that it is safe. As we enter our 14th year of operation, this award is particularly meaningful because it also represents the fact that our dedication to safety has produced an outstanding performance history, without a single safety or Lost Time Incident. Our people are the driving force behind our health and safety management system, which is the foundation of this achievement. I am extremely thankful for their efforts, each and every day, to make health and safety a top priority.”

The RoSPA Awards criteria takes into consideration not only accident records, but the entrant’s overall health and safety management systems, recognising practices, such as strong leadership and workforce involvement. For CIS, this means that the company demonstrates outstanding commitment to protecting the health and safety of all employees and customers. 

Carl Whitehead has opened his third TaxAssist Accountants shop joining his established premises in Long Eaton, Nottingham and Shepshed, Leicestershire.

Since joining TaxAssist Accountants as a member of staff, and subsequently becoming a director in partnership with former franchisee Phil Marriott in 2011, Carl Whitehead has seen his business continue to boom, hence his decision to open a third shop on Ashby Road in Loughborough.

“Working for Phil proved a fantastic way to build up my knowledge base and confidence in running a practice and to build a rapport with clients” explained Carl, who was 27 at the time, having worked his way up from accounts manager to training manger to practice manager before becoming a shareholder, director and franchisee.

“Since taking over as sole director in August 2017, with a well-established and highly experienced work force and a steady stream of new business, it was always my intention to open a third shop to compliment the two existing practices.

“When the ideal shop unit became available, I jumped at the chance. It is a very prominent shop with a large and eye-catching mural on the wall above our signage, so it’s difficult to miss! I would like to thank the TaxAssist Accountants Support Centre in Norwich for their help and assistance in setting up the shop, which looks great. I would encourage any clients interested in finding out more about our services to pop in for a free initial consultation.”

In addition to the new shop, Carl operates from Field Street in Shepshed and Derby Road in Long Eaton, where he looks after more than 400 clients.

If you are interested in finding out more about joining the TaxAssist Accountants network, call Nikki Haythorne on 0800 0188297.