Commitment to customers recognised at Leeds Metropolitan

The university has achieved the Customer Service Excellence standard, a Government benchmark awarded to public sector bodies who demonstrate a commitment to driving customer-focused change within their organisation.

Commenting on the announcement Professor Susan Price, Vice Chancellor at Leeds Metropolitan said: "We are delighted to have been successful in achieving the Customer Service Excellence standard and that our passion and commitment to our customers and in particular our students, has been recognised. Achieving the standard isn't the end of the process, it is just the beginning for us and we are continuing to drive continuous improvement through initiatives which will benefit the customers we serve."

To achieve the standard, an organisation must show they meet a range of detailed criteria, including customer insight, the culture of the organisation, information and access, delivery, and timeliness and quality of service.

The assessment concluded that Leeds Metropolitan University successfully achieved "compliance" against 46 elements and exceeded 9 elements of the criteria, scoring "compliance plus".

The university's neighbourhood helpline was commended as an effective way to swiftly deal with feedback local residents and its pioneering scheme in partnership with a local taxi company, Amber Taxis, ensures students can get home safely even if they have run out of money at the end of the night, simply by showing their student card. In addition, the university's 24/7 library, which was recently reaccredited with the CSE standard in its own right for the 11th year running for that facility alone, was commended as being an example of great customer service.