The Peugeot project, run by Serco’s contact centrein Tonbridge, Kent, beat 30 other car manufacturers to the prize after outperforming them in a mystery shopper programme.

The Serco team were rewarded for their ‘excellent customer service and response times’, beating fellow UK car manufacturer Jaguar into second place.

The Autotrader Awards, which were launched in 2007, showcase the most effective consumer websites from automotive manufacturers, dealer groups and car supermarkets.

Serco Client Delivery Manager Peter Hansen said: “This is an impressive accolade and a great example of the high levels of service and knowledge the Tonbridge team achieve. We are well positioned to move forward in 2012 and do even bigger and better things”.

Jonathan Bates, Manager – Lead Management and Dealer Websites (Peugeot), said: “I’m really proud of the team for exceeding all of their objectives for the year and they’ll take confidence from this award to help drive them on to even greater successes in 2012.”

The award caps a great year for the Contact Centre, which also books customer test drives on behalf of Peugeot Dealers. The Peugeot Customer Contact Centre, which was established in 2010, manages a range of services including customer relations, recalls and brochure fulfilment.

Louise Goldsmith, Leader of West Sussex County Council joined TLC staff, including former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio, Sales Director at The Listening Company, and several other County Council cabinet members to mark the occasion.

TLC will manage calls relating to a range of services across the council including social care, highways and library renewals with staff acting as the first point of enquiry for citizens calling the council.

Neville Upton, CEO, The Listening Company said: “I am delighted that we have been selected to deliver contact centre services on behalf of West Sussex County Council.  We are committed to delivering excellent customer service which will bring benefits for the Council and local communities across the County. The decision to appoint TLC reflects our strong track record for innovation in the delivery of high quality and efficient services for our customers across the UK.”

Michael Brown, Cabinet Member for Finance, West Sussex County Council said: “It is with great pleasure that we welcome The Listening Company to West Sussex. They have an excellent reputation in the Public Services industry having delivered services on behalf of a wide range of public sector organisations. They are renowned for both their deployment of cutting-edge technologies and their innovative people practices. We expect contact centre staff to thrive under their stewardship and for the people of West Sussex to experience excellent customer service.”

Representatives from a range of industries will attend the ceremony at the Sofitel Hotel, Heathrow of Friday 8^th July to celebrate excellence in customer service.

The new contact centre, which is due to open in August, will be located at Hodge House on St Mary Street and will be operated by The Listening Company (TLC), which was acquired by Serco in March this year.  The company will embark on a major recruitment drive for inbound sales, customer support and administrative staff. 

The centre will become TLC’s ninth major UK site and its first in Wales. Recent growth within the company’s existing accounts as well as from new customers has prompted the opening of the new facility. The business has existing centres in Portsmouth, Manchester, Newcastle, Tonbridge, London, Glasgow and Brora (Scotland) from where it serves a range of clients including Sky, O2 and Peugeot.

Neville Upton, CEO, The Listening Company said: “We’re delighted that the growth in our business has provided us with the opportunity to establish ourselves in such a vibrant city centre. Not only does this move enable us to enhance our geographical spread and build on our relationships with key clients, it will lead to the creation of a number of exciting job opportunities and we expect to grow the business in the coming months and years.”

For more information on development opportunities and job vacancies at The Listening Company please email cardiffrecruitment@listening.co.uk or phone 0845 855 9000 (opt. 6). The organisation is looking for people to fill vacancies in HR, recruitment, training, IT, back office admin and inbound customer service. 

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In the Press…

The customer communications outsourcer, which became part of Serco in March, will field calls including those relating to social care, highways and library renewal.

The outsourcer is set to assume control of the West Sussex contact centre at the beginning of July. The centre currently handles over 800,000 calls a year and is the first point of enquiry for people calling the Council.

Neville Upton, CEO, The Listening Company said: “This is a great win for us and further proof of our commitment to expand our service offering in the Public Services sector following our recent acquisition. In time, we hope to enhance West Sussex’s contact centre capabilities and introduce new channels to help them deliver more complex services.”

TLC employees Jigar Patel and Eddie Selmi were voted Outsourced Sales Agent of the Year and Outsourced Chat Team Manager of the Year respectively. Nationwide was crowned Industry Innovation of the Year with BT winning Innovation of the year, another boost for The Listening Company, who manage operational delivery for both of these activities.

The ceremony took place at the Mint Hotel, Tower Hill and was attended by delegates across LivePerson’s European customer base. 

The awards, which were established in 2007, celebrate the achievements of large scale Enterprise and SME organisations across EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa)

Dave Rumble, Director, The Listening Company said: “We always strive to develop innovative customer solutions and drive improvements in webchat in order to deliver against our client’s expectations. We’ve all worked incredibly hard over the last 12 months so it’s extremely gratifying to be recognised for our achievements.”

Jason Estella, Client Delivery Director, The Listening Company said: “This is a testament to the great team of people we have across our webchat channel, from our agents, our support functions, through to day to day operational management. They have all pulled together to achieve our clients business objectives and in doing so, secured longevity and growth in a competitive market place.”