St Stephen Street traders guarantee best service

St Stephen Street in Stockbridge is the first retail destination in Scotland to be accredited with a world acclaimed award for excellence in customer service.

The street has been named as a WorldHost Recognised Destination for customer service excellence recognised by the WorldHost Customer Care programme.

We went to meet the newly appointed Convener of the Economy Committee, Councillor Frank Ross to find out more about the scheme:-

listen to ‘Talking with Councillor Frank Ross ’ on Audioboo

We then spoke to a couple of the traders who appear to have enjoyed the experience, and who hope it will help them run their businesses better.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CxLNA6lSno]

The programme was originally developed by the Province of British Columbia to train the 44,000 volunteers and tourism staff who made the 2010 Winter Olympics such an outstanding success. The WorldHost website explains:-“Our aim is to transform customer service standards across the UK, and build the nation’s reputation as one of the most welcoming tourist destinations in the world. All of our programmes have been endorsed by Visit England, Visit Scotland, Visit Wales and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.”

More recently, the programme has been adapted by leading employers and training providers for the UK market. It was also used to train the volunteers at the 2012 London Olympics in customer care. Nearly one million people in over 20 countries have been successfully trained using the World Host programme.

Kirstine Hale, Director of Edinburgh Skills Shop said: “We are thrilled to have been involved in the accreditation of St Stephen Street becoming the first World Host destination in Scotland and want to offer our congratulations to all of the businesses who successfully completed their part in the WorldHost training.

“It is a huge achievement for a group of traders to come together and recognise the importance of excellence in customer service. To officially become the 1stWorld Host retail destination in Scotland is an accolade in itself. The street is filled with wonderfully different boutiques and independent businesses, all of which deserve the highest of recognition for this accreditation.”