The top performers in Wales’ contact centre industry have been honoured at an awards ceremony at the Wales Millennium Centre hosted by comedian and presenter Katherine Ryan.
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The 21st annual awards, headline sponsored by RW Learning, celebrate outstanding people and businesses for their contribution to the industry over the past twelve months.
Organised by the Welsh Contact Centre Forum, the awards acknowledge a sector which employs 32,000 people in 250 centres across the country, contributing £650m annually to the Welsh economy. Industry chief Sandra Busby says that while recruitment in many other sectors is stalling due to uncertainty around Brexit, contact centres continue to provide a good option for people looking to build a rewarding career.
Over 660 guests saw gold and silver winners presented in 19 categories with EE in Merthyr named Large Contact Centre of the Year; Molson Coors in Cardiff Gate as Medium Contact Centre of the Year; Legal and General Insurance in Cardiff picking up Small Contact Centre of the Year; Conduit Global in Cardiff named Outsourced Contact Centre of the Year and Deloitte in Cardiff named Shared Service Centre of the Year.
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The gold award for Senior Manager of the Year award went to Nicola Hanigan of Lloyds Banking Group with Helen Grzonka from Molson Coors scooping silver; Lindsey Morgan of HSBC UK (IBC) won gold in Contact Centre Manager of the Year with silver going to Sedgwick’sLaura Simmons; Luke Davies of AA Driving School won gold for Support Manager of the Year, with Leyton Williams of Firstsource Solutions awarded silver; and Rebecca Rees of HSBC UK (IBC) won gold in Team Leader of the Year with Sian Morris of RCN Direct the recipient of the silver award.
Judges chose Danielle Nash of We Plan Group as the gold winner in the Support Person of the Year category, with Connor Griffiths of SSE the silver winner. Legal & General Insurance Direct Sales’ Beth Coundley took home the Advisor of the Year gold, while Sarah Powell of Student Finance won silver. The gold award for Trainer/Coach of the Year went to Elin Herbert of AA Driving School, while silver went to Emma Jane Williams from Target Group. Apprentice of the Year was Aled Duckfield from CGI and Newcomer of the Year was Ellie Clodefrom AA Insurance Services.
Company gold awards went to Deloitte (Diverse Workplace) with silver in that category to RCN Direct; BT (People Development) with silver to Legal & General Investments; Principality Building Society (Customer Engagement) with silver to Legal & General Retirement; Firstsource Solutions (People Engagement); BT (Business Improvement Strategy) with silver to V12 Retail Finance and Optimum Credit (Support Team) with silver to Admiral.
Full list of winners
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[accordion title=”Apprentice/Newcomer of the Year – sponsored by CAVC” load=”show”]Aled Duckfield – CGI – Gold – Apprentice
Ellie Clode – AA Insurance Services – Gold- Newcomer
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[accordion title=”Advisor of the Year – sponsored by Yolk Recruitment” load=”hide”]Sarah Powell – Student Finance – Silver
Beth Coundley – LGI Direct Sales – Gold
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[accordion title=”Trainer/Coach of the Year – sponsored by RW Learning ” load=”hide”]Emma Jane Williams – Target Group – Silver
Elin Herbert – AA Driving School – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Support Person of the Year – sponsored by RWR Recruitment” load=”hide”]Connor Griffiths – SSE – Silver
Danielle Nash – We Plan Group – Gold
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[accordion title=”Team Leader of the Year – sponsored by CGI” load=”hide”]Sian Morris – RCN Direct – Silver
Rebecca Rees – HSBC UK (IBC) – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Support Manager of the Year – sponsored by Optimum Credit” load=”hide”]Leyton Williams – Firstsource Solutions – Silver
Luke Davies – AA Driving School – Gold
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[accordion title=”Contact Centre Manager of the Year – sponsored by Premier CX” load=”hide”]Laura Simmons – Sedgwick – Silver
Lindsey Morgan – HSBC UK (IBC) – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Senior Manager of the Year – sponsored by Firstsource” load=”hide”]Helen Grzonka – Molson Coors – Silver
Nicola Hanigan – Lloyds Banking Group – Gold
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[accordion title=”People Development – sponsored by Deloitte” load=”hide”]Legal & General Investments – Silver
BT – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Support Team of the Year – sponsored by Gower College Swansea” load=”hide”]Admiral – Silver
Optimum Credit – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Customer Engagement – sponsored by Ring Central” load=”hide”]Legal & General Retirement – Silver
Principality Building Society – Gold
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[accordion title=”Business Improvement Strategy – sponsored by Wales & West Utilities” load=”hide”]V12 Retail Finance – Silver
BT – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”People Engagement – sponsored by Legal & General Investments” load=”hide”]Firstsource Solutions – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Diverse Workplace – sponsored by Legal & General Insurance” load=”hide”]RCN Direct – Silver
Deloitte – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Shared Service Centre of the Year – sponsored by Welsh Government” load=”hide”]Deloitte – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Outsourced Contact Centre of the Year – sponsored by Red Contact Centres” load=”hide”]Conduit Global – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Small Contact Centre of the Year Inhouse – sponsored by V12 Retail Finance” load=”hide”]Legal & General Insurance – Gold[/accordion]
[accordion title=”Medium Contact Centre of the Year Inhouse – sponsored by CCA Recruitment” load=”hide”]Molson Coors – Gold [/accordion]
[accordion title=”Large Contact Centre of the Year Inhouse – sponsored by University of South Wales” load=”hide”]EE – Gold[/accordion]
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Sandra Busby, managing director of the Welsh Contact Centre Forum, said:
“The winners and nominees tonight represent the very best in an industry which continues to deliver not just economic value, but valuable careers to people all across the country. The uncertainty around Brexit might be causing bumps across the business world, but our workforce in Wales remains steady.
“Ever since the first contact centre came into being in the 1960s, our sector has embraced technology as it moves at pace. In the future we’ll likely see real-time customer support blending automation with a human touch and the opportunities ahead of us can see an exciting future for contact centres in Wales.”
Further sponsors alongside headliners RW Learning included Cardiff & Vale College, CGI, Premier CX, Yolk Recruitment, Legal & General, Optimum Credit, Firstsource Solutions, Deloitte, Red Recruitment, V12 Retail Finance, Wales & West Utilities, HSBC, TSW Training, Randstad Business Solutions, Ring Central, RWR Recruitment, Welsh Government, University of South Wales, CCA Recruitment and Gower College Swansea.
