Father and son team wins top Thames Water customer service award

A father and son working for Lanes Group have won the top award in the inaugural Thames Water Customer Service Awards 2015 for their exceptional and dedicated service that makes them “pure class.”

Peter and Kevin Carter received a standing ovation from colleagues as they went up to receive their award – their second of the evening – from Thames Water Chief Executive Officer Martin Baggs.

The blockage engineers, who have worked together for 10 years, won the team award under The Inspiring category at the ceremony, held at Kew Gardens, in West London.

After all eight awards in four categories had been presented, Martin Baggs revealed that the judges had decided to give a special overall award to one particularly impressive category winner, and announced it was Peter and Kevin.

Peter Carter, 59, said: “We were stunned. We never thought we would win an award. The reaction of the audience was amazing. Everyone just stood up and started cheering. It’s an evening we will never forget.”

Peter and Kevin, from Slough, Berkshire, work for Lanes Group’s Utilities Division, Thames Water’s wastewater network maintenance partner, as a clean-up team, often helping customers recover from sewage floods.

They were nominated by Charlotte Prom, Head of Customer Experience for Lanes Utilities. She said: “Peter and Kevin are viewed by their colleagues as the platinum standard for customer service delivery.

“Customers often send in commendations about their attitude, politeness and hard work, while their co-workers describe them as ‘lovely’ and ‘pure class’.”

Kevin, 32, said it was an honour to win the award for doing a job they both loved, adding: “We get up each morning, knowing we’re going to meet customers. So we put on a smile, and set out to do the best we can for them.

“We treat customers as if they’re family. We act professionally and want to solve their problems. It helps that we really like working together, and get all the support we need from Lanes as a company and from our colleagues.”

Peter said: “Little things count in what we do. We never take customers for granted, and treat everybody the same. It’s quite simple, I was brought up to be kind to people, and that’s how I have brought up Kevin.

“We always try do a quality job, and make sure everyone is safe while we are doing it. But it’s also how you do something, giving a little extra help whenever you can. We set a personal standard and want to maintain it.”

Lanes Utilities Division personnel were shortlisted and recognised for their work in two other categories in the Spotlight on Excellence Customer Service Awards, which attracted 360 nominations.

Field Technical Specialist Nick Carter, who is not related to Peter and Kevin, was shortlisted for an individual award in The Dedicated category. The Customer Solution Centre Pilot, made up of Lanes Group and Thames Water staff, was nominated for a team award in The Innovator category.

Charlotte Prom said: “The Thames Water Customer Service Awards reflect and celebrate the standard of customer service excellence we aspire to as one of their partners.

“We will be working hard over the next 12 months to instil Peter and Kevin’s platinum service throughout every level of Lanes’ interaction with customers, so our staff have a good chance of winning more awards next year.”