Webhelp installs community defibrillator in Dunoon
Webhelp has installed a community defibrillator in Dunoon as part of an initiative to install Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) on all of its UK sites.
The crucial piece of life-saving equipment has been made available in the event of an emergency outside Webhelp’s Caledonia House office which is next to Sandbank Primary School. Anthony Sinclair, Director of Resilience and Property, explains:
“As a business focused on putting our people first, our health and safety strategy isn’t just about protecting our colleagues, but the communities we’re part of as well. To help safeguard our colleagues and indeed the communities where we work, Webhelp is installing AEDs at a number of our UK sites, including one in Dunoon which comes with paediatric pads. All of the sites were chosen where there are currently no AEDs registered on the national circuit near these locations, so by installing publically accessible AEDs on the exterior of our buildings, we feel we can help make a difference the wider community.”
Installation of the Dunoon defibrillator was complete on 31st of August 2021 and joining the free training on the day, delivered by Webhelp’s Health and Safety Manager, Craig Rooney, were first aiders from Sandbank Primary School. Head Teacher, Jamie Houston commented:
“When we were contacted by Craig, we didn’t hesitate to get involved. We are delighted that this life-saving equipment has been made available to us. We can’t thank Craig and the Webhelp team enough for the training provided.”
The Caledonia House defibrillator comes with an additional set of Paediatric Pads designed for use on children between one and eight years old, or under 25kg/55lbs in weight is registered with the Scottish Ambulance Service and will be available 24/7 meaning even when the Webhelp building is closed, it will be accessible.
According to the British Heart Foundation, around 30,000 people in Britain every year suffer from sudden cardiac arrest in the community, and when an AED is used within 3-5 minutes of a cardiac arrest, the survival rate increases significantly from 7% to 64%.
As part of Webhelp’s Health and Safety strategy, refresher defibrillator training is underway with trained first aiders across their UK sites.
Webhelp to host talk at Retail Week’s Consumer Week 2022
We are delighted to confirm we are taking part in a fireside chat for Retail Week’s Consumer Week 2022.
Running from September 13 to 17, Consumer Week 2022 will allow retailers and brands to access exclusive strategic insights across free virtual masterclasses, exclusive consumer research and free online content to identify and influence tomorrow’s shopper.
Webhelp UK’s Chief Customer Solutions Officer, Helen Murray, will host a discussion with Bloom & Wild CEO, Aron Gelbard, to discuss direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales and how retailers can make their offerings stand out to shoppers in a crowded market.
In the chat, Helen – who is responsible for leading Webhelp UK’s business development function and the delivery of client differentiation through enhanced customer experience – will share insight on listening to customers and how maintaining a focus on customer experience is key to delivering sustainable growth.
Helen will also explore how partnerships can support brands to deliver brilliant customer experiences, exceptional brand advocacy and loyalty, all at scale.
Aron will share Bloom & Wild’s customer centric strategy for consistent growth, the changing DTC market and what to expect in the future as well as key learnings retailers can take from their journey.
Helen said: “I’m delighted to be taking part in Retail Week’s Consumer Week 2022 and to have the chance to hear first-hand from retailers about the challenges and opportunities they face in their interactions with shoppers as the sector continues to evolve.
“I’m particularly excited to host Bloom & Wild’s CEO for a fireside chat. We’ll discuss the importance of listening to the customer and the positive impact this can have on customer experience, alongside understanding more about Bloom & Wild’s customer-focused approach to achieving consistent growth.”
The fireside chat, ‘Tapping into the DTC opportunity: Learning from a retail disruptor’, will be available to view from September 16 and will include questions from registrants throughout.
To register your place, visit retail-week.com/consumer-week.
Lighting our way to “Our greener future”
As part of our on-going aim to reduce energy consumption and in line with our Greenhelp targets, we are thrilled to see our Derby site switching to 100% LED lighting. The project will see the site using 100% energy efficient lights, which will considerably reduce consumption and continuously improve energy management across our estate.
Advantages of LED Lights:
- 25% – 80% less energy consumption
- 3 – 5 times longer lifespan
- Negligible heat emissions
It’s amazing to learn how much we are cutting down on our carbon footprint as an organisation by just replacing the lights at Derby and we can continue to further reduce this with your support. If a light is turned on and no one is there – you could turn it off and make a great impact to our carbon footprint.
Installation of the LED lights began on Monday 2nd of August. While the project was greenlit way back at the beginning of 2020, the onset of Covid-19 delayed plans so it’s fantastic to see a return to action on our green initiatives.
With our Falkirk and Glasgow Hope Street sites almost at 100% LED lighting, we will be looking to upgrade more sites around the region to this more efficient and environmentally friendly option.
Webhelp UK is progressing on our journey to improve our environmental performance. We are truly committed to “Our Greener Future” and this initiative is a positive step towards enhancing our environment.
Webhelp’s internal trainer development program validated by City & Guilds
Our Operational Learning & Development team always aim to deliver the highest level of service for our colleagues across the region, so that means making sure our trainers are supported to be the best they can be.
Based on feedback from our annual survey Your Call, the L&D team were inspired to develop an internal trainer development program that offers a 9 to 12 month evidence led, blended-learning model to enable our trainers to become learning professionals, honing their skills and delivery. Now after collaborating with the City & Guilds Group, a global leader in skills development, the program has been validated. This now means that our colleagues who train others as part of their role, can work towards a professional qualification accredited by the City & Guilds.
Declan Hogan, Director of Learning & Development, commented:
“Our front-line facilitators are central to our operational learning strategy on our journey to 2024. This program challenges our people to enhance the way they look at designing and creating learning content, expand their skills into facilitation/coaching skills and embedding practices. Learning stakeholder management skills to partner the Operations to deliver key objectives is also a key part of their learning journey. I am excited and proud of the gifted Operational L&D team that scoped this program and look forward to seeing the success over the next 18-24 months”
Our first cohort of pioneers have already started their journey and we will keep you updated on their progress.
Sam Egerton UK Sales manager, City and Guilds:
“City & Guilds has been at the forefront of skills development for over 140 years, and we are proud to provide assurance to Webhelp’s Trainer Development programme. To gain City & Guilds assurance is an extremely rigorous process and Webhelp operational Learning did so really quickly and seamlessly, this demonstrates the quality of the programme the front-line facilitators will be working towards. We look forward to seeing all the learners progressing and proudly sharing their Digital Credentials once they have completed their programmes of learning”
The creative process behind Webhelp’s sponsored bear
In just a few days’ time, the bears will hit the streets of Sheffield for this summer’s sculpture trail. Ahead of the launch on 12th July, we caught up with Eleanor Young, the artist of Webhelp’s Pastel Pattern Patchwork Bear to learn more about our bear sculpture and the creative process behind the design.
First of all, tell us a little bit about your background as an artist?
I’m a designer maker based in rural Perthshire, where I run my design studio Fun Makes Good. Having studied textile design at Glasgow School of Art I now specialise in contemporary patchwork, creating bold, bright, design-led interior products and upholstery as well as large scale bespoke textile pieces for commercial spaces and the public realm. Although primarily specialising in textiles I’ve enjoyed evolving my practice to include murals and pieces of public art too, all in my signature colourful graphic style.
How did you come across the call out for artists to design a Bear for the trail?
I was privileged enough to be asked by The Children’s Hospital Charity’s team to submit a design as I was already working on a project with Sheffield Children’s Hospital. I jumped at the chance, as it seemed a nice way to develop on the work I was already creating for them, bringing the work out of the hospital and into the wider city for people on the street to enjoy.
How did you feel when your design was chosen by Webhelp?
It’s really lovely to have a company behind it who feel passionate about the cause and want to support the sculpture trail. I’m delighted my design was selected!
What inspired you to choose the patchwork theme for the bear?
I chose to create a design that takes direct reference from the textile work that I had been working on for Sheffield Children’s Hospital. I’d recently been making bespoke cushions for seats and seating areas in the hospital that featured soft patchworks of flowing shapes in ice-cream colours. I wanted to use the same colour pallet and reference the same pattern but as if the shapes continued on into one large patchwork, that could wrap around the bear. It was nice to expand on the design and take it into a 3-dimentional space!
How many weeks did it take you to complete the sculpture, did you hit a creative block?
It was very good timing as the bear arrived just days before the very first lockdown last year. It provided me with a very calming activity to work on whilst everything else seemed to be so uncertain. It was really lovely just taking the time to work on it bit by bit unpressured.
Fun Makes Good has created work for unusual and interesting places, what has been the most memorable place?
One of my favourite projects actually took one of my pieces out on tour, to help promote live performance across the Highlands and Islands. I upholstered some theatre chairs in bespoke digitally printed velvet. The chairs travelled across country on the top of a yellow car and were placed in some of the most beautiful locations across the Highlands including beaches, hills and beside lochs. It was such a fun idea!
Can you tell us about your collaboration with Artfelt when you created bespoke textiles and interior decoration within Sheffield Children’s Hospital?
I feel very privileged to have worked with Artfelt, the charity arts programme at Sheffield’s Children’s Hospital, on a few different commissions after meeting Jade Richardson the Arts commissioner at a Christmas Market at the Hepworth in 2018. After seeing my cushions at the market I was asked to make some in a hospital suitable material, that could add an element of ‘home’ and comfort in some of the seating areas. Working with healthcare grade vinyl, I made a number of patchwork designs that tied in with the existing interior decoration.
From there, I worked on designing a whole scheme for one of the parent’s rooms, bringing together textiles with hand painted murals and wall art. It was a fantastic experience and I received great feedback from the staff who were all involved in the design process, making sure all the elements were right for the space. I also really enjoyed the experience of coming into the hospital to paint, as I was able to meet some of the parents who would be using the room and could see how much they appreciated having an area designed for them.
Around the same time, I was commissioned to design some large-scale cushions to be fitted into internal windows within the newly completed ward. The scale of the large internal windows provided an opportunity to create a space within the corridors for seating. These individual pods could provide semi private, quiet spaces for waiting and contemplation and I designed some complimentary soft seating pads.
Will you be visiting Sheffield to see the Bears?
Yes! I’m very much hoping to make a trip later in the summer with my family as my wee boy has been asking ‘where has the bear gone’ and I know he’ll love hunting out the others across the city.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Eleanor’s designs check out Fun Makes Good amazing product selection here.
As proud sponsors of the trail, Webhelpers across our three Yorkshire sites have various actives planned to raise funds for Sheffield Children’s Hospital. We can’t wait to see what they have in store!
In the meantime, let the bear hunt begin #PatchworkBear.
Peer Hackman joins as Managing Director of Telecommunications, Media and Technology Practice
Webhelp and Gobeyond Partners are pleased to announce the expansion of their Telecommunications, Media and Technology Practice, under the leadership of Peer Hackman.
Peer joins Webhelp as Managing Director for TMT. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the business with over 20 years’ experience in leadership, consulting and operational roles with CSPs, technology vendors, management consultancies and media start-ups.
He is supported by a global team of industry consultants, customer experience specialists, customer engagement operations experts, analysts, data scientists and engineers, who work with our clients to transform and create value from customer engagement and experience engineering. This practice brings together specialists who transform customer experience excellence into profitable growth and run your customer operations at greater efficiency and lower costs.
Commenting on the TMT expansion, David Turner, CEO of Webhelp UK said:
“Telecommunications is a diverse and hugely important sector of the global economy, which has provided a crucial role during the pandemic in keeping individual and businesses connected, media companies entertaining and informing us, and technology vendors providing the devices and infrastructure. However, the gap between these sectors in shareholder returns has widened. All businesses have realised that customer engagement, experience and trust is THE decisive enabler to produce sustainable growth and expansion in uncertain times. Peer and his practice are working with leading operators, media businesses and technology vendors to help them mature their digital transformations across strategy, customer engagement, operations, culture, technology and data, to build sustainable, resilient and highly profitable future-facing businesses.”
Peer Hackman, Managing Director for TMT, continues:
“Webhelp and Gobeyond Partners provide end-to-end capabilities – from assessing our clients’ digital and CX maturity, to helping them to shape their customer engagement strategy to drive business performance, to engineering profitable customer experiences and providing holistic customer engagement solutions. We are uniquely placed to deliver transformative programmes which help clients grow the value of their existing customers, open new market opportunities, drive down the cost base, increase revenue and improve customer satisfaction.
“I’m delighted to be joining the team at Webhelp and Gobeyond Partners and look forward to bringing customer engagement transformation solutions to the often complex challenges faced by their prestigious client base.”
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Webhelp announces partnership to help the hospitality industry bounce back with award winning fintech Yoello
Webhelp, a global leader in customer experience and business solutions, is supporting Yoello as it accelerates its growth in the UK and into Europe.
Yoello’s simple and secure mobile ordering solution allows customers to order food and drink from the comfort of their table by scanning a QR code, using any phone and without downloading an app. With COVID safety in mind, Yoello minimises unnecessary contact, removes queues and replaces physical menus.
Webhelp is providing the order and pay platform with B2B outbound sales support and will be helping the company onboard new clients to meet the spike in demand following the new measures introduced to the hospitality sector.
Yoello, which is offering new clients a free 3 month trial of its mobile table ordering platform, will benefit from Webhelp’s highly-skilled experts, a bespoke sales model, market intelligence and analytics.
David Turner, Webhelp UK Region CEO, said:
“Our people bring unrivalled expertise and a start-up mentality that is essential for innovative and ambitious firms like Yoello. It’s exciting to partner with a fast-growing fintech that is helping the hospitality industry adapt by keeping employees and guests safe. From the beginning Webhelp embraced an entrepreneurial spirit which remains at the very heart of everything we do, even 20 years later. Our founders are still as passionate to this day, and their continued leadership enables us to help exciting technology innovators like Yoello to prosper in their own journey.”
Sina Yamani, CEO of Yoello, said:
“We’re so pleased that Webhelp is able to provide valuable insight and support for our business at this exciting time. Yoello is helping the hospitality industry move seamlessly to a safe and easy way to serve food and drink and Webhelp is a perfect partner – together we’re enabling even more operators to take a data-driven approach to social distancing.”
The fast growing fintech received recognition last week (Thursday 1st October) at the Wales Start-up awards, picking up the award for Fintech Start-up of the Year and Mobile and Emerging Technologies Start-up of the Year. Now in their fifth year, the awards are exclusive to Welsh companies that have launched within the last three years and provide a unique opportunity to recognise the achievements of those entrepreneurs that are making an incredible impact on the Welsh economy.
Find out how Yoello is supporting thousands of hospitality businesses through mobile order and pay technology – yoello.com
Employees recognised for exceptional performance at UK Star Awards
Shining lights in customer experience from across the UK were recognised by Webhelp at last night’s virtual 2020 Star Awards. It is the first year that Webhelp’s awards are all linked to its company values and cultural behavioural pillars; recognition, integrity, unity, commitment and ‘wow’.
Marking their 10th anniversary this year, the Webhelp Star Awards are driven by employees across all areas of the business. Everyone within the company is encouraged to nominate local stars from any site in the UK. The awards recognise and reward excellence across the business at a team and individual level.
There are monthly, quarterly and annual award categories, with the initial prizes ranging from an extra half-day of annual leave and a Star Awards certificate to a full-day holiday. Quarterly winners are shortlisted to win an annual award.
The 2020 winners announced below each received a cash prize of £1,000.
David Turner, Webhelp UK CEO, said:
“The Webhelp Star Awards is one of the highlights of the year and, even though we couldn’t gather face to face, it’s never been more important to pay tribute to our teams and individual colleagues for what they have achieved.
“I’m proud of our Webhelp employees and the flexibility, commitment and unity they have shown as we have embraced and overcome the challenges of the last 6 months.
“Our priorities through 2020 have been keeping our people safe and our business strong. We felt it was important to go ahead with the Star Awards as an online event and to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication.”
Webhelp UK Star Awards 2020 Winners:
People First Award
Emily Thomson, Glasgow
Emily supports and encourages her team to meet their targets and become top performers. She is known for having great ideas, using her initiative and going above and beyond in her role.
The Integrity Award
Karen Gavazzeni, Glasgow
Karen has overcome a lot of change on her campaign and managed this like the true professional she is.
Client at the Heart Award
Lauryn Walker, Rothesay
Lauryn resolved a major issue for her client against a tight deadline, ensuring the client’s customers were not impacted. She was calm, she was patient and she was committed to finding a solution.
Commitment Award
Harry McKinstray, Kilmarnock
Harry is innovative, flexible, collaborative and, above all else, he just gets the job done. Nominees in this category are dedicated, driven to achieving great outcomes; they show resilience and have a real determination to overcome any obstacle.
Passionate Game Changer Award
Ryan Bogan, Kilmarnock
Ryan has been recognised for his attitude, insight and delivery. He’s hard-working, determined and always thinking of new ideas.
Recognition Award
Chris Galante, Sheffield
Chris demonstrated exceptional effort and dedication throughout the set up and launch of a new Webchat team for his client, in response to the pandemic. He was focused, committed and organised when supporting the speedy training and mobilisation of 54 colleagues within two weeks.
Strive to Enjoy Every Day Award
Stuart Fraser, Falkirk
Stuart has been recognised because of his great work implementing mental health support in the workplace. His initiative was a huge hit and colleagues have remarked how supportive and innovative he is.
The Unity Award
Team Louise, Kilmarnock
This team, led by Louise Wilson, was the top performing team on site for 16 months at the time of their nomination. The team was also called “a force of nature led by a fearless leader” and it has been stated that we would not find a more dedicated, energetic and successful team.
The WOW Award
Emma Bradford, Dearne Valley
Angela Bartraham, Glasgow
Chris Glendinning, Falkirk
Not just one but three WOW Awards, in recognition of what an amazing year this has been when so many Webhelp employees rose to the challenge in 2020.
Emma, Angela and Chris all demonstrated energy, drive, problem-solving skills, passion to succeed. Above all else, they are role models who their colleagues respect and look up to.
“Globalization does not make a nation competitive by nature…”
Co-founder of Webhelp, Olivier Duha shares his opinion on globalization in these thought-provoking times.
When things go wrong, it is common for people to search for a guilty party, someone who is responsible for the pain experienced. The crisis we are going through has not escaped this rule and, of those considered culpable, globalization tops the list.
Already accused of causing mass unemployment, increasing inequalities, weakening local culture and driving up global warming, globalization is now considered responsible for the circulation of the virus and for our dependence on strategic foreign assets.
The accusations against globalization are flawed. The reality is that globalization has become the victim of many biases.
- Cognitive biases, what Steven Pinker called “progress phobia”. Our minds, for example, naturally tend to focus on costs rather than benefits, the evil can sometimes appear stronger than the good. These biases lead us to forget or ignore the progress that globalization has made during the twentieth century. The rate of extreme poverty (considered by X as earning/having less than $ 1.90 / day) fell from 60%, to 10% between 1950 and 2015. Life expectancy has more than doubled since 1900, from 32 to 72 years. Famine and malnutrition, conflicts and wars, infant mortality, illiteracy, slavery and servitude; all over the world these evils are in free fall, and despite what the daily news is pouring out to us, we are witnessing the most dizzying improvement in our living conditions that the world has ever known
- Cultural biases: criticism of globalization is a "privilege" of Western populations, places where individuals have inherited progress rather than felt the immediate effects in their lifetime. In developing countries, the effects can be seen in a much more concrete way. We benefit from progress without realizing it, while we feel the costs of globalization more directly
- Fundamental aspiration: imagining a “de-globalized” world has no meaning or future. Firstly, because globalization responds to a fundamental human aspiration of exchange, which is the expression of freedom. As economist Ricardo said in 1817, freedom is the most effective engine of growth, and homage there is no progress without growth. In addition, we can view globalization as a drug for society - a socio-degenerative phenomenon for some, an ecological disaster for others. For many, globalization remains a powerful trigger of our strongest consumerist impulses.
As Sébastien Bohler (author of The Human Bug, 2019) notes globalization is our best ally, as it has made it possible to democratize what was for thousands of years reserved for an elite. In this context, the debate is not “should we try to stop globalization?”, but “how can we make globalization more virtuous?”
First of all, it is essential to never lose sight of the fact that globalization does not make a nation competitive by nature. It is the competitiveness of a nation that enables it to enjoy the potential of globalization.
We can work to create a more “reasoned” globalization by preserving free trade while taking a firmer view of the proponents of short-termism or the selfishness of states.
If the debate on industrial sovereignty opened by the crisis is legitimate, we must above all give ourselves the means to be part of global competition, to benefit from the multiplier effect of a global playing field. This requires stable and effective regulations co-constructed with economic players, investment in infrastructure (telecoms, energy, freight), training and research, and coordinated and proactive policies.
The means to place a price on carbon, protect intellectual property rights, apply anti-social policies or anti-public subsidy measures are known. It is the political will to apply them consistently at the global level that is lacking. For that to happen, multilateralism must be overhauled, out of the quagmire of the “Doha Round” initiated by the WTO in 2001, which to this day has not seen any results.
The challenge is immense, but the gravity of the current situation imposes on us an urgent need to reassess the current world order.
This article was originally posted on L'Opinion.
Reimagining service – Banking spotlight
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, banks and financial service firms across the world played a critical role as key workers; supporting economies and communities alike as government interventions required support to be stood up at scale and at short notice.
The drive, determination and flexibility of people across the sector to deliver during one of the most volatile periods in decades was remarkable to witness. Teams went above and beyond as we all adjusted to new working practices, the increased demand for mortgage holidays and also requests for emergency loans and distribution of funds as rapid state interventions were rolled out.
While many firms just about managed to deliver service to anxious customers during the darkest days of the crisis; many came away with a sense that delivering seamless, multichannel service, reimagining the art of the possible and adapting to the shifting sands of customer demand, felt far more difficult than it should have - with many leaders concerned about their ability to weather future storms.
As the pressure continues to mount on banks to support economic recovery and deliver for customers who are now carrying refreshed expectations of what ‘good’ service looks and feels like; we have seen firms across the world emerge with a palpable hunger to reassess, refocus and accelerate transformation programmes.
Getting this right will take more than simply moving faster than before. Engaging and empowering people, driving focus in the right areas and challenging some of the sectors most ingrained ways of working and culture must all be aggressively pursued, to help build stronger and more resilient banks fit for our new future.
As the backbone of economic recovery across the world, banks cannot afford to get this wrong.
To discover more about customer service models post COVID-19 read our new Whitepaper, a joint publication with Gobeyond Partners, part of the Webhelp group, on Reimagining service for the new world which is underpinned by our unique industry perspective alongside new research to discover the operating models of the future.