Census:

PRESS RELEASE: 18.09.19

Census Data Ltd (trading as Census Group) are proud to announce they have been shortlisted for the 2019 European Contact Centre & Customer Service Awards (ECCCSA) in the ‘Giving Something Back’ category.

Census Group, who in 2018 won both The Queen’s Award for Enterprise and the CSJ Award for ‘Responsible Business’, are shortlisted alongside BGL Group, The Co-op, HSBC, NewDay, TalkTalk, Teleperformance Greece, and Icon Communications.

This category recognises the tremendous work the customer contact industry does in supporting others – such as local community initiatives and nominations should recognise the impact the initiatives have had, the sustainability of the activity and balancing the initiatives against colleague engagement and business priorities.

Company Information:

Census Group was founded and launched in 2013 by Ian and Kelly Carrel, with the purpose of offering training and employment opportunities to people in custody. Their experience in customer contact environments highlighted a significant frustration – having to let well-trained, enthusiastic staff go when their DBS checks returned showing previous criminal convictions.

Census Group have developed a programme which provides careers advice, skills development and mentoring, all designed to prepare people in custody for the world of work through a structured, authentic work-experience whilst still in prison. The company is unique in that it offers guaranteed work on release, either directly with Census Group or via one of its partner companies. 

Census Group enables people involved in the criminal justice system to thrive, by providing opportunities which deliver sustainable, social and economic integration whilst also providing its customers with a quality customer-contact solution.

The ECCCSA Awards:

In their 19th year, the ECCCSAs are the longest running and largest awards programme in the industry and recognise organisations across Europe that are leading the way in delivering exceptional service to customers.

Highly regarded for its robust judging process, the ECCCSA’s award organisations that value people and continually innovate to improve both customer service and staff well-being.

Being an ECCCSA winner is a prestigious accolade that has proven to raise the profile of the contact centre operation. In 2018, organisations from 19 countries participated in the awards which over 1200 people attended, representing the most senior customer experience professionals in Europe as well as key industry influencers.

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Being recognised by a prestigious industry body, such as the ECCCSA, strengthens our belief and resolve that the wider contact centre community shares our vision in providing people with a second chance in life.

Being shortlisted as finalist in this category continues to build on both our Centre for Social Justice (Responsible Business) Award and the Queens Enterprise Award (Promoting Opportunity).

We look forward to showcasing to the Judging Panel why our commitment to social mobility truly epitomises ‘Giving Something Back’.

Together, we can change many more lives and have a significant impact on our communities.

Contact:

For further information please contact John Warrington.

Telephone 07746 559282 E-Mail john.warrington@censusdatagroup.com

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Breaking the mould

It is widely reported that staff turnover in the call centre industry is around 26% annually, considerably above the national average of 15%.

Richard rowley

Richard Rowley is the Managing Director at Census Life and is responsible for all criminal justice work the social enterprise undertakes. 

Richard has over 20 years’ experience of working with voluntary, public and private sector organisations in the criminal justice arena and still retains the same desire to support people to become the very best they can be. 

Richard is also very proud to be a Trustee for POPS (Partners of Prisoners and Families Support Group) in Manchester. 

On the off-chance he is away from work, you’ll find Richard watching football, cooking and spending time with his family – not necessarily in that order!

Kelly Carrel

Kelly Carrel is the Chief Executive of Census Life and is responsible for leading the strategic direction and overall effectiveness of the organisation.

 Kelly has over 20 years’ experience of working within the Customer Management sector and, over the past 7 years, has used this experience to provide meaningful work experience and relevant training to those farthest from the job market.

Most specifically Kelly is focussed on individuals serving custodial sentences, and working with them during this period to ensure they have opportunities for employment on release. Passionate about pursuing social mobility, through the route of employment, this is the key driver of the work for Kelly and her team.

Outside of the office, Kelly enjoys travelling, martial arts & air acrobatics along with spending time with friends and family.

The Census story

Census Group was founded in 2013 by Ian and Kelly Carrel, following their respective careers working in large scale in-house and outsourced contact centre operations both in the UK and overseas.

In 2010 Criminal Record Bureau (now DBS) background checking was becoming ever more prevalent, regardless of whether the role required it. The founders recognised there was an urgent need to address the issues highlighted by this process, as more contact centre agents were losing roles across the industry with a ‘blanket’ approach being applied to every adverse CRB check. This experience in contact centre environments highlighted a significant frustration – having to let well-trained, enthusiastic staff go when their checks returned showing previous criminal convictions. With attrition rates in the industry reaching levels of >25% we knew we could develop an incredibly competent workforce that would also have a wider impact on society

Through our corporate social responsibility strategy we have consistently reinvested profits, to go the extra mile and support colleagues as they leave prison and reintegrate back into our communities. To make this much more fundamental to our work we have developed Census Life, our not-for-profit social enterprise.