Guildford Applauds The Best In Customer Service

Published on: 19 Oct, 2015
Updated on: 19 Oct, 2015

By Betty Kayko

Soft toy shop The Bear Garden received the best customer service award in the retail independent category for a third time in a row at the 2015 ceremony hosted by Experience Guildford.

The awards ceremony was held at G Live and there were 30 nominees from across 10 categories ranging from coffee shops to hair salons, town centre stores to pubs and clubs.

The Bear Garden team with their award.

The winners were:

Best Customer Service – pubs, bars and clubs: the Star.

Best Customer Service – coffee shops: Coffee Culture.

Best Customer Service – restaurants: Côte.

Best Customer Service – health and beauty: Champneys.

Best Customer Service – leisure and lifestyle: G Live.

Best Customer Service – service provider: The Friary.

Best Customer Service – professional services: Skipton Building Society.

Best Customer Service – retail national small (20 staff or fewer): Mint Velvet.

Best Customer Service – retail national large (20 staff and over): House of Fraser.

Best Customer Service – retail independent: The Bear Garden.

Andrew Colborne-Baber, the owner of The Bear Garden, based in Jefferies Passage, said: “For a small tucked-away business like ours to get that sort of recognition is a dream come true and very important in terms of exposure.”

The Star team with their award.

Experience Guildford, the town’s centre’s Business Improvement District, held the awards to celebrate the exceptional service that is offered by Guildford’s town centre retailers and service providers.

Mint Velvet.

Residents and visitors had the chance to applaud businesses by nominating and voting for those they thought offered outstanding customer service.

The event was filled with champagne along with entertainment from the Performance Preparation Academy.

The general manager of Experience Guildford, Amanda Masters, said: “Great customer service is achieved by exceptional teams and individuals. I believe we are lucky to have so much talent and a commitment-to-community service in Guildford.”