National stage for Wigan and Leigh

The borough's biggest social landlord, Wigan & Leigh Housing, has been short-listed for a major national award.

Its Leigh-based contact centre is one of three housing category finalists in the 2006 'Public Servants of the Year Awards – celebrating Pride in the Public Services'.

Wigan & Leigh Housing (WALH) held off tough competition from nearly 300 exceptional teams nominated from across the country. The contact centre team will go head to head with Richmond Housing Partnership and 'Your Homes' of Newcastle at London's exclusive Grosvenor House Hotel in May.

Wigan & Leigh Housing was short listed for its remarkable work in streamlining and improving customer service in its contact centres, which serve over 24,000 council tenants in the borough. Through extensive customer surveys, WALH knew that their customers wanted faster, more reliable service from staff who are knowledgeable and polite. Last year, the Call Centre Association awarded WALH the industry-coveted distinction of ‘Best Practice Accreditation’.

If WALH can win the housing category, they stand a chance of securing the prestigious title of 'Outstanding Public Service Team of the Year', which this year will be decided by a 'people’s panel' brought together by pollsters MORI.

Wigan & Leigh Housing Chief Executive, Peter Gee says:

"The nomination is a real privilege and recognises the dedication and commitment of all our staff. We fully appreciate the need for keeping a highly trained and customer focused work force and our efforts have resulted in giving local residents a first-class service."

The contact centre team will head to London on 17th May for the ceremony which will be hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald OBE and Al Jazeera International presenter Felicity Barr.

Mike Thatcher, editor of the magazine Public Finance adds:

"We’ve had another phenomenal response to this year’s search for nominees, with 450 entries in total. Given the high standard of entries to the 2006 awards, Wigan & Leigh Housing has done incredibly well to be short listed. I wish them every success on the night."

More details about the awards can be found online at www.publicservants.co.uk

Notes to editors

• For more information, please contact Vicky Bannister, Wigan & Leigh Housing on 01942 486534 or Helen McDonnell at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) on 020 7543 5872.
• Backed by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, the Cabinet Office, the Office of Government Commerce and MORI, and run by Public Finance magazine, the Public Servants of the Year Awards seek to recognise and reward the vitality, commitment and determination of teams and individuals working hard to make a real difference to the general public. The awards are the longest-running pan-public services awards programme.