Winners of the North East Contact Centre Awards 2021 have been revealed in an Awards Ceremony.
The region’s contact centre industry has continued to deliver vital services during 2021 in the face of increased demand as the economy bounces back from the pandemic. The Awards honour individuals, teams and organisations who have gone above and beyond this year, demonstrating world-leading customer service in a range of industries including financial services, retail, insurance, leisure, healthcare, emergency services, security and logistics.
The Awards took place on Thursday 11th November and were also beamed live to colleagues across 150 contact centres in the region who employ an estimated 50,000 people. Finalists in the competition enjoyed a Gala Dinner as the winners and highly commended nominations were announced by host Charlie Charlton.
Among those honoured were Leeds Building Society, BGL Insurance, Worldpay, Sage, Barclays, Ocado, Parkdean Resorts, NHS BSA and Northumbria Police.
Head judge Christine Allenson said “The strength of entries was again very high this year which demonstrates the resilience, energy and dedication within the region’s contact centres who have gone above and beyond to keep vital services running for their customers. It was fantastic to be able to get together again for a live celebration after last year’s virtual ceremony.”
Cllr Graeme Miller, Leader of Sunderland City Council said “We are proud to be an event partner because the Awards are a fantastic way to recognise the massive achievements of people who have made contact centres one of the north east’s real success stories. The industry has proven its resilience time after time, continuing to recruit and provide valuable employment throughout the ups and downs of the economic cycle. It remains a key source of jobs, and in Sunderland as a city employs around 11,000 people and contributes over £200m a year to the economy in salaries alone.”
Leanne Chambers, Managing Director at lead sponsor greenbean, commented: “Customer behaviour has changed forever and with increased acceleration towards digitalisation and self-service comes the changing role of the front-line advisor who is now required to be tech-savvy and handle more complex queries. These awards not only celebrate and recognise the amazing individuals, teams and organisations that are best in class, but highlights contact centre careers as a ‘career of choice’