THE SHOOTING STARS of the North East’s contact centre industry have been revealed at the 15th annual North East Contact Centre Awards.
Amongst the winners included BGL, Atom Bank, Sage and Firstsource Solutions, who all have contact centre functions based here in the North East.
Over 350 leading lights of the North East contact centre industry came together on Friday evening (2 February 2018) to celebrate the achievements of both frontline and support staff that has made North East contact centres the best in the world in 2017.
Back for its 15th year and following record entries, the winners and runners up of this year’s awards were announced during the prestigious ceremony held at Ramside Hall.
Leanne Chambers, Client Solutions Director at greenbean by NRG, said: “It’s fantastic to be celebrating the successes and passion within the North East Contact Centre sector; there have been some outstanding entrants this year. greenbean by NRG is proud to showcase the talent in the industry, congratulations to everyone involved.”
Tim Woods, Director of Customer Contact, Collections & Remediation at Santander, added: “It’s a joy to be part of these awards, sponsoring the Inspirational Leader category.
“There’s a great deal of skill and expertise in the North East contact centre industry, and every single shortlistee should be thrilled to be singled out amongst such a great pool of talent.”
Hosted by MAKE it Sunderland with headline sponsor greenbean by NRG, the awards were managed by She’s Gott It! Events for the first time. EC Outsourcing, Go North East, Santander, Jabra, Business Durham and CCS also supported the event as sponsors.
Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council, Cllr Harry Trueman, said: “The City Council were the founders of these awards and are very proud to have continued to support them every year since.
“Contact centres in the North East have long been renowned for their excellent customer service, efficiency and friendliness, putting them amongst the best in the world. These awards recognise and celebrate the rich pool of talent here in the North East and thank them for their outstanding achievements.”
The North East Contact Centre Awards 2017 winners and runners up are as follows:
Contact Centre Adviser of the Year 2017:
Winner – Danny O’Reagan, Atom Bank
Runner-up – Amy Wemyss, Utilitywise
Multi Channel Adviser of the Year 2017:
Winner – Kayleigh Milner, Atom Bank
Runner-up – Philip Key, Atom Bank
Sales Star 2017:
Winner – Anthony Hodgson, Sage
Runner-up – Karen Gray, Virgin East Coast Mainline
Customer Experience Champion 2017:
Winner – Lucy Hogg, Sage
Runner-up – Devinder Singh, Firstsource Solutions Ltd
Inspirational Leader 2017:
Winner – Johnny Auton, Firstsource Solutions Ltd
Runner-up – Ben Evans, Atom Bank
Recruitment Champion 2017:
Winner – Sean Gilholme, Atom Bank
Runner-up – Firstsource HR Team, Middlesbrough
People Development Heroes 2017:
Winner – Sage New Customer Acquisitions Team
Runner-up – AXA Development Academy Team
Contact Centre Dream Team 2017:
Winner – Atom Customer Support Leadership Team
Runner-up – Barclaycard Social Media Team
Outstanding Contribution to Community 2017:
Winner – MI Community Team, BGL
Runner-up – Charity & Community Team, Santander
North East Contact Centre of the Year 2017, under 50 seats:
Winner – Atom Bank
Runner-up – Choice Future Planning
North East Contact Centre of the Year 2017, over 50 and under 250 seats:
Winner – Firstsource Solutions Ltd, Middlesbrough
Runner-up – Spark Response
North East Contact Centre of the Year 2017, over 250 seats:
Winner – BGL Customer Services
Runner-up – Auxillis