Amey, which collects the waste in four areas of Surrey on behalf of Joint Waste Solutions, has reason to celebrate National Customer Service Week (5 – 9 October) after receiving over 1,000 letters of thanks from the local community for its on-going response to the pandemic.
The volume of letters and pictures designed by families in Woking, Surrey Heath, Mole Valley and Elmbridge has been so high that a designated appreciation wall at its Elmbridge depot on Mill Road, Esher, is now completely full.
Amey’s waste collection team began receiving letters from households shortly after the government announced a national lockdown, during which time its employees doubled as delivery drivers in order to supply vulnerable adults with critical medication. Since then, letters have continued to arrive and the appreciation wall has continued to grow.
Earlier this year, two members of the team, Jade Magic and Ricky Herbert, both from Woking, featured in a Channel 4 documentary entitled Britain’s Unsung Heroes, which celebrated key non-NHS workers keeping going during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Nicola Blake, Account Director for Amey’s Waste Collections Services Team in Surrey, comments: “We’ve been really moved by not only the volume of letters but also the fact that we continue to receive them over six months since the start of lockdown. As it’s National Customer Service Week, it felt like the right time to share how the local community has really got behind frontline workers – and for us to say ‘thank you’ to all those who have supported us.”
Councillor David Mansfield, who chairs the joint committee overseeing the collection contract added: “The crews are doing a fantastic job keeping the service going during this challenging period, particularly as waste volumes have been much larger than usual. They are critical key workers who deserve all the thanks and praise our residents have given them.”
National Customer Service Week is a week long opportunity to raise awareness of customer service and the vital role it plays in successful business practice and the growth of the UK economy. This year’s event has assigned each day with a unique theme, which includes: capability and skills; recognising your customer service heroes; leadership; insight; and trust, ethics and responsibility.
Amey understands how important the customer is in helping to design and deliver better, more efficient services. To understand its customer, Amey has created a Customer Experience strategy and training for its people that is designed to help them achieve its goal to become the most trusted Transport Infrastructure service provider in the UK.
For more information on National Customer Service Week visit www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/events/ncsw/. For more information on Amey visit www.amey.co.uk.