A COMMUNITY trust managing leisure venues and activities on Teesside has retained its rating for outstanding customer service. Tees Active has again been awarded the Customer Service Excellence (CSE) standard by External assessors following a full one-day assessment.

Tees Active, which works in partnership with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, was awarded the nationally recognised accreditation after an external assessor visited Billingham Forum and talked to customers, staff, community groups, and business partners. This was an annual surveillance visit, and Allan McDermott, Tees Active’s Community Engagement Manager, described the latest assessment as “testament to the hard work and energy of all Tees Active staff and reflects on their professionalism demonstrating that we put our customers at the heart of everything we do, and we are thrilled to receive this independent recognition of that customer-focused philosophy.”

Areas of the Tees Active operation rated as outstanding in the assessor’s’ report as they were awarded 9 Compliance Plus in areas of work which included Pro course booking for swimming enrolments, employment and training, and partnership work in the community. The work with Stockton HAF and the piloting of SEND and family provision was also praised.

The new Infinity Project , which is an initiative to offer alternative education programmes received a special mention alongside the partnership work with the Active Stockton project in producing video tours of leisure facilities to assist individual who may need additional information in planning their trip to the local leisure facility. This also aligns with Tees Active being awarded Swim England Water Wellbeing accreditation.

Leon Jones, Tees Active’s Managing Director, said: “Everything we do is about putting customers first, and everyone in the organisation is dedicated to maintaining the high standards we’ve set. It’s one thing to reach the highest standards in customer care, but another to maintain them year after year, and the retention of the Customer Service Excellence mark is important, independent recognition of that commitment.”

Councillor Nigel Cooke, Cabinet Member for Health, Leisure and Culture on Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, added: “Providing high quality leisure services is a key priority for the Council. This recognition demonstrates how collaboration between Tees Active and its partners is delivering exceptional leisure experiences for our community.”