How businesses deal with complaints has evolved to become a key component of their overall Customer Experience ethos, and the premier event in the UK to celebrate talent and achievement in this crucial field is the Complaint Handling Awards, for which the finalists have been announced.

Taking place in the Park Plaza Riverbank hotel in the very heart of London on February 22, the awards will see entrants competing in 18 categories relating to all facets of complaint handling.

Overall Best Team and Overall Winner awards will also be presented at the day-long event, which will feature presentations in the morning, followed by a gala lunch, during which the winners will be announced.

Categories include Best Banking and Investment, Best Contact Centre, Most Improved Complaint Handling, and Utilising Customer Reviews.

Hosted by Awards International, the event – which is also set to be a fantastic networking opportunity – will also bring together a judging panel of experts from a wide range of organisations.

They work closely with staff and customers at their respective firms to ensure a gold standard of complaint handling, and this year’s judges include: Sue Warwick, Head of Group Customer Service at Mulberry Company Design Ltd; Tracey Roberts, Business Development Director at Capita; Simon Burke, Customer Service Director at Crest Nicholson; and David Lewis, Head of Customer Relations at Barclays.

Partnering Awards International in hosting this year’s finals ceremony is Cranfield School of Management, Barnardo’s, Resolver, and iCasework.

Ahead of the event, judges have already reviewed entries to narrow them down to the finalist shortlist, and according to judging Chairperson Michael Hill, who heads sales at iCasework Ltd, the standard is “simply amazing”.

He continued:

“There are a couple of entries that are already standing out as being exceptional on paper, but that doesn’t mean they will stand up to the judges’ scrutiny at the finals. There is a great deal of consistency across all the categories and so many positive examples of using customer complaints to deliver better products and services.

Congratulations to all the finalists and I look forward to seeing you at the awards. Let’s see who will succeed in the rigorous judging ahead.”

For more information on the UK Complaint Handling Awards, visit the website. A full list of the 2018 finalists can be found below.

INDUSTRY SPECIFIC
Category Finalist
Best Banking and Investment
  • Virgin Money PLC
  • HSBC Service Recovery
  • Santander
  • Aegon UK
Best Contact Centre
  • 60K
  • CrossCountry
  • South West Water
  • Co-op
Best Finance & Insurance
  • Autonet Insurance
  • Hitachi Capital
  • HSBC Service Recovery
Best Hospitality/Leisure/transport & Travel
  • Arriva Trains Wales
  • Thomas Cook
  • CrossCountry
Best Personal Entertainment & Telecoms
  • giffgaff & Firstsource
  • EE
  • BT Business and Public Sector Complaints
Best Utilities
  • Severn Trent Water
  • Lanes Group
  • Thames Water
  • United Utilities
  • South West Water
  • Welsh Water Retail Services
DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC
Best Digital
  • EE
  • CrossCountry
Most Improved Complaint Handling
  • Orbit Group
  • Optivo
  • CitySprint
  • Family mosaic – Peabody
  • Virgin Money
Product & Service Improvement – Improving the Customer Experience
  • Lanes Group
  • HSBC Mortgages
  • Aegon UK
  • Arriva Trains Wales
Product & Service Improvement – Transforming Customer Relations
  • giffgaff & Firstsource
  • Co-op
  • Welsh Water Retail Services
  • CrossCountry
Pro-active Complaint Handling
  • Hitachi Capital
  • Thomas Cook
  • Intelenet Global Services
  • Virgin Money
  • Family Mosaic – Peabody
Pro-active Complaint Handling – Utilities
  • Welsh Water Retail Services
  • Severn Trent Water
  • South West Water
  • United Utilities
  • Lanes Group
Utilising Consumer Reviews
  • Lanes Group
  • Feefo
  • Sage in partnership with Trustpilot
PEOPLE SPECIFIC
Managing Your People
  • BT Business and Public Sector Complaints
  • 60K
  • Lanes Group
  • HSBC Service Recovery
  • NewDay
  • giffgaff & FirstSource
Leader
  • Andrea McGuire, Customer Feedback Team Manager, Liverpool City Council
  • Emma Donnelly, Head of Customer Relations, CrossCountry
  • Ben Lyons – Operations Manager, Co-op
  • Jess Morgan, Complaints Manager, South West Water
  • Andy Brierly, Frameworks Director, Lanes Group
Team
  • CitySprint
  • BT Business and Public Sector Complaints
  • DHL
  • Co-op
  • Three
  • giffgaff & Firstsource
Team – Financial Services
  • HSBC Service Recovery
  • Santander
  • Intelenet Global Services
  • Virgin Money
  • Hitachi Capital
Team – Utilities, Trains & Housing
  • South West Water
  • Lanes Group
  • United Utilities
  • CrossCountry
  • Arriva Trains Wales
  • Home Group
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