Nearly 80% of the UK’s workforce are in customer-facing roles, many of which have been on the frontline throughout the pandemic.

Research by the Institute of Customer Service has found that more than half of customer-facing staff have experienced abuse from customers since the start of the pandemic. This hostility needs to be addressed and combated.

That’s why we’re proud to support their #servicewithrespect campaign.

We will be joining the efforts of many other organisations and helping to raise awareness of the zero-tolerance approach to hostility and abuse directed towards customer service workers.

The Institute of Customer Service warns these measures do not go far enough and has called on the government to create a new offence for people who abuse customer service workers in-person or on the phone. This would make it not just inappropriate but an actual criminal offence to abuse customer-facing workers.

What we ask of you, as customers, is that on occasion, you may need to adjust your expectations and behaviour in support of service professionals. Our Customer Service staff should feel safe and be treated with respect when doing their jobs.

We’d love you to join us in support of the Service with Respect campaign, by being respectful and professional when dealing with all members of our business.

Click here to find out more about the Insitute of Customer Service, Service with Respect Campaign