Customer Service Excellence

The Customer Service Excellence award is a challenging standard introduced by the Cabinet Office and builds on the esteemed Charter Mark Award.

As with the Charter Mark we need to re-apply every 3 years and to do this we need to complete 3 stages:

• Measure our services against 5 criteria
  We measure our services against the criteria.
• Submit a written application to an Independent Body
  We submit our application supported by evidence, to an independent assessor.
• Examination by an Independent Customer Service Excellence Assessor
  A Customer Service Excellence assessor then examines our application. The assessors are independent experts in good customer service, with backgrounds in the public and private sectors. We then receive a visit from the assessor.

2008 Award

We achieved Customer Service Excellence accreditation for the 6th time in November 2008.

2009 Award

The Assessor completed the first annual review in November 2009 and confirmed that CSE certification should be maintained. In the assessment report, the Assessor reaffirmed that "The Intellectual Property Office was found to have a deep understanding and a commitment to Customer Service Excellence. The commitment was found from Senior Management levels through to operation and front line staff".

The Customer Service Excellence standard provides us with an independently verified framework to constantly improve and maintain our services to the highest possible standard.