With a general election now called for July 4, the UK is fast kicking into in pre-election mode, and campaigns will soon be getting into full swing. Political parties are publishing and promoting their manifestos, as well as formulating their…
If you are reading these columns regularly, then you will already know how vocal I have been about the need to safeguard service professionals and how pleased we were to get some breakthrough 20 months ago with an amendment to…
As many of you will know, back in July 2020 we launched Service with Respect, a campaign to address the unacceptable levels of abuse that service staff across all sectors were experiencing. The catalyst for this was a dramatic rise…
It’s been just over a year since we successfully achieved a change in the law with our Service with Respect campaign to make the abuse of public-facing staff an aggravated offence. We are proud to have spearheaded a cross-party, cross-sector, and cross-society…
Extract from Customer Focus Magazine: Issue 38 (May 2023): Our latest polling shows that the cost of living crisis in the UK continues to impact customer service staff significantly, with nearly half of frontline service workers experiencing hostility from customers…
It has been a busy week at The Institute, as we have launched the latest round of research as part of our ongoing Service with Respect campaign. Sadly, it had not painted a positive picture, with nearly half of our…
As we edge closer to the Coronation - and whether you are a republican, a royalist, or somewhere in between - it is clear the whole country is relishing the opportunity to enjoy a second bank holiday weekend in as…
Following last week’s Conservative Party Conference, the intense scrutiny on Liz Truss and her Government shows no sign of abating as both politicians and members of the public voice their concerns. Like the rest of the country, they face hefty…
Tuesday saw new legislation providing greater protection to frontline service professionals from customer abuse come into effect. This comes after two years of campaigning and off the back of your support, for which we are very grateful. In the face of an…
After almost two years of campaigning through our Service with Respect initiative, new legislation comes into effect making the penalties for abusing customer-facing workers much harsher. The Guardian covers the rise in violent and abusive behaviour towards shop workers in…