Award for Council customer service

Rochdale Council’s contact centre has won an award for the service it provides to residents.

During an annual awards ceremony designed to highlight and reward excellence in the North West, their contact centre was named ‘Best Contact Centre - over 50 seats’ in the public sector category.

The Rochdale centre employs 55 staff, handling over 65,000 telephone enquiries a month from residents on a vast range of council services, ranging from electoral registration to recycling facilities. Staff have been trained to deal with a wide range of enquiries.

Judges recognised the ‘warm and friendly atmosphere and all the good work that they do in the community'.

Alan Taylor, Leader of Rochdale Council, said: "The award is a culmination of lots of hard work for the team, who had to complete a thorough selection criteria. They were judged against a range of measures, including displaying how the centre has overcome barriers to high performance.

"Our customers are our number one priority and I am delighted that this award recognises the significant improvements that we've made to ensure the highest quality of service through our contact centre. We have listened carefully to what our customers have told us and delivered what they have asked to reduce overall waiting times and improve service overall.

“Staff work tremendously hard to answer questions and deal with a vast range of enquiries and their award is a reassurance to us all that we are in very good hands."