Mayor of Guildford, Councillor Masuk Miah, town centre businesses, and other representatives of the town enjoyed a celebratory evening at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre on Monday 4 September as Experience Guildford crowned the town's customer service stars. Now in its ninth year, the Experience Guildford Customer Service Awards, sponsored by St Edward (Berkeley Group) have gone from strength to strength, with nearly 2500 residents and visitors to the town voting for their customer service heroes. Hosted by Nick Wyschna of the Guildford Fringe Theatre Company, many of the awards were presented by last year’s category winners, and the evening also featured musical entertainment from Rosy Carr and other members of The Guildford Fringe Ensemble.
Nominations for each of the award categories were announced in July, and since then each shortlisted business has been visited by a secret shopper to be finally crowned king or queen of their category.
Below is a list of the Experience Guildford Customer Service Award Winners for 2023.
- Best Customer Service - Pubs, Bars and Clubs – The Fallen Angel
- Best Customer Service - Coffee Shops – Coffee Culture
- Best Customer Service – Restaurants National – Giggling Squid
- Best Customer Service – Restaurants Independent – Gordos
- Best Customer Service - Food on the Go – Kokoro (North Street)
- Best Customer Service – Health & Fitness – Food For Thought
- Best Customer Service – Hair & Beauty – Sanrizz
- Best Customer Service - Leisure and Lifestyle – Yvonne Arnaud
- Best Customer Service - Service Providers – Guildford Library
- Best Customer Service - Professional Services – Timpsons
- Best Customer Service - Retail National small – Lush
- Best Customer Service - Retail National large – Anthropologie
- Best Customer Service - Retail independent – Essential
In addition to the public vote categories, the Customer Service Awards also include a Shining Star category, designed to offer managers of individual stores or businesses the opportunity to reward their staff members whom they feel should be recognised for their outstanding contribution to the business. The Shining Star Award 2023 went to Libby Britt, general manager at The Britannia.
Commenting on winning her award, Libby says; “Winning this award means everything to me. It shows that what I’m doing is the right thing, and having my assistant manager and the team nominate me means the world. This award is so important as it shows you have been recognised for the job that you do. It’s not always an easy job, but when you have those positives, when you make someone’s day, it’s all worth it.”