Leading tourism experts urge Yorkshire businesses to invest in good customer service

Two of Yorkshire’s best known tourism professionals, Denise Howard OBE and David Andrews, have launched a new company offering industry ‘gold standard’ customer service training to the region’s hospitality and leisure businesses.

Denise, an award winning entrepreneur and David, former CEO of Yorkshire Tourist Board, have teamed up on new venture welcometraining.com, which delivers internationally recognised Welcome to Excellence courses and in-house, bespoke programmes, to help businesses become more profitable.

Denise Howard, who was awarded an OBE for services to tourism in Yorkshire in 2001, said: “Mary Portas and Michel Roux have put customer service firmly on the agenda. As they’ve shown, it is worth investing in excellent service to gain repeat business and thrive, particularly in the current climate.

“At welcometraining.com, we use plain speaking and a practical, in-depth knowledge of what businesses need to do to be more successful, including training, marketing, finance, systems and policies.”

David Andrews added: “Our team of trainers and consultants has been working across Yorkshire, the North East and the UK on various training courses and projects for clients, demonstrating the business benefits of improved customer service. The response to our approach has been very positive.”

welcometraining.com currently offers nine one-day Welcome to Excellence customer service training courses and bespoke programmes on specific themes, such as team motivation and training plan design. The team has delivered courses to organisations such as Local Authorities, Universities and colleges, major tourist attractions like The Jorvik Viking Centre and the Royal Armouries, retail outlets like The Light shopping centre in Leeds, independent hotels and accommodation providers and hotel chains.

For details of upcoming courses and to register for customer service tips and resources, visit www.welcometraining.com