Yorkshire Water earns Charter Mark Award for public service

26/01/1999

Yorkshire Water will today receive the Government's Charter Mark award in recognition of the "exceptionally high" quality of service it provides its 4.5 million customers.

The company, which provides water and sewerage services to homes and businesses across Yorkshire and Humberside, is being presented with the prestigious accolade after an independent panel of judges carried out a rigorous scrutiny of the company's customer service policies and procedures.

The criteria on which the company was assessed included the quality and availability of customer information, consultation procedures, employee courtesy and helpfulness, the company's ability to resolve customer issues and value for money.

Yorkshire Water's Director of Customer Services Tracy Flanders said the award was testimony to the hard work and dedication of the company's employees.

She said: "Customers can rest assured we will endeavour to maintain the high standards of service that this award has recognised. We are very pleased with the progress we are making, however we believe there is still room for even further improvement.

"Our customers demand and deserve a high standard of service. We will continue to seek their views and work in partnership with them to ensure Yorkshire Water becomes even more reliable, efficient and responsive in the future," she added.

Making their award, the judges acknowledged the steps Yorkshire Water had taken to increase customer consultation and choice.

As well as maintaining a close working relationship with the OFWAT Yorkshire CustomerService Committee, Yorkshire Water canvasses customers' views through a variety of means, including regional customer advisory panels, monthly domestic and business customer surveys, qualitative market research and close liaison with community, business and trade groups.

The company also canvasses the views of some 400 customers every month on top of the 1,200 face-to-face interviews conducted for its annual domestic customer survey.

Other aspects of the company's customer service singled out for praise included:

The comprehensive range of information the company provides to customers, including a good range of well-presented leaflets.
Regular evaluation of feedback from customer consultation, resulting in service changes
The introduction of impressive IT systems, enabling a continual tracking of key areas of the business and the ability to check on the progress of service improvement initiatives
The introduction each year of a series of stretching key performance measures and service standards covering both quality and quantity
Flexible working hours by staff to give customers a choice over the time of necessary visits.

Eric Wilson, Chairman of the Yorkshire Customer Service Committee of OFWAT, said: "I am delighted to see this impartial recognition of the efforts of Yorkshire Water to improve the quality of service for its customers.

"Great all-round progress has been made in the last few years and whilst there will always be room for further improvement the company is to be congratulated in getting this award."