Winners of the UK Customer Experience Awards 2014 have been announced during a celebratory lunch at ExCeL London on Thursday 25th September.
Now in their fifth year, these are the second biggest business awards in the UK1, and the only UK awards dedicated to recognising the importance business places on customer experience.
The winners were selected by a panel of judges made up of over 100 industry practitioners. Top names vying for these prestigious awards included: British Gas, Samsung Electronics (UK) Ltd, easyJet, Nationwide Building Society and Visa Europe.
During the morning finalists in each of the categories presented their entries to the judges. The winners were announced during a sit-down meal for over 800 guests, including Heather Small, singer and ambassador for the UK children’s charity Barnardo’s.
After all the Awards were presented, Northern Gas Networks walked away with the title of overall winner of the UK Customer Experience Awards 2014, scooping an impressive 5 additional awards for their customer experience initiatives.
Further awards were presented in the following categories:
Sector Specific:
- Financial Services – Banking & Investment – Listening & Changing: 1st Credit Ltd
- Financial Services – Banking & Investment – Technology Solutions: Barclays Mobile Banking
- Hospitality, Leisure & Entertainment: Whittlebury Hall Hotel and Spa in partnership with Interdirect Limited
- Insurance Services: Direct Line
- Professional & Government Services & Utilities: Northern Gas Networks
- Retail and Consumer Services: Shop Direct
- Technology & Telecoms: Hive, by British Gas
- Transport, Automotive & Plant Hire: DPD UK
Discipline Specific:
- Business Change or Transformation – Culture Change: AXA PPP healthcare
- Business Change or Transformation – Focused on Improvement: Post Office (Financial Services)
- Business Change or Transformation – Simplification: Northern Gas Networks
- Contact Centre – Large: Samsung Electronics (UK) Ltd
- Contact Centre – Small: Northern Gas Networks
- Customer Relationship Management: TripAdvisor
- Employee Engagement – Developing and Learning: Halifax Bank
- Employee Engagement – Taking the Lead: Northern Gas Networks
- Employee Engagement – Values and Behaviours: easyJet
- Insight & Feedback – A new way of measuring: MBNA in Partnership with ResponseTek
- Insight & Feedback – A different perspective: Standard Life
- Insight & Feedback – A Focus on Understanding: Gousto
- New Product/Product Improvement – Loving the Customer: Titanic Belfast Ltd
- New Product/Product Improvement – making the most of Technology: Hive, by British Gas
- Social Media & Email: Graze (Nature Delivered Ltd)
For People:
- Professional of the Year: Julie Tyler, Central England Co-operative
- Team:A Whole New Level: Webhelp UK
- Team:All Together: Direct Line Group – Customer Strategy and Experience
- Team: Customers at the Heart: Northern Gas Networks
- Team: Listening & Responding: Scottish Water – Field Response
Congratulating the 2014 winners, Neil Skehel, Managing Director of Awards International, said: “We are delighted and inspired by the best practice showcased at this year’s UK Customer Experience Awards. We have seen some shining examples from companies who have demonstrated outstanding customer experience and as a result have seen clear benefits in terms of business growth and customer engagement. The standard of entries has yet again been outstanding and this event gave us the opportunity to acknowledge those companies and celebrate with the finalists and winners.”
The Awards are on track to raise £10,000 for chosen charity Barnardo’s, via the raffle, silent auction and generous donations, to help support the UK’s most vulnerable children.
