Census:

PRESS RELEASE: 18.09.19

Census Data Ltd (trading as Census Group) is delighted to reveal that one of its employees, Amer Crawford, has been shortlisted by the United Kingdom Contact Centre Forum (UKCCF) for its prestigious 2019 Manager of the Year Award.

Amer, is our Team Manager at HMP YOI Drake Hall prison in Staffordshire, where our contact centre has a team of up to 25 women. One of Amer’s key responsibilities is to train team members and provide a positive environment where the women are doing meaningful work that equips them with skills they can use effectively on release. This involves teaching team members to be independent, manage their own time, improve their communication skills and confidence, as well as give them the IT skills and product knowledge to prepare them for work upon their release from prison.

The next step of the judging process takes place mid-October, when Amer and the other three nominees will give a presentation. The winner will be announced at a Gala Dinner in Milton Keynes on October 25th.

Quotes:

Amer Crawford
“I am really honoured to be even put forward for this nomination, and to be in the final four is just amazing. I think all the managers at Census Group work very hard in challenging environments and we all do a great job. I offer support and guidance to my team daily, not just with regards to the job they do but also some other matters they may be struggling with. This is key, the team work better in a positive environment with lots of encouragement. I am very lucky to have a good team.”

Kelly Carrel, Chief Operating Officer of Census Group
“The UKCCF Awards are widely recognised as the industry gold standard and for Amer to be shortlisted in the Manager of the Year category is truly special.”

“Amer’s dedication and commitment to her role goes way above and beyond what anyone would normally expect. She works in an incredibly challenging and unpredictable environment and really excels at bringing out the best in people. She has bags of enthusiasm and an unwavering desire to help people strive to become the very best they can be.

“We are extremely proud to call Amer our colleague and grateful to the UKCCF for acknowledging her work.”

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 UKCCF AWARDS:
The UKCCF Awards recognises individual, team and company best practice among the UK’s 6000+ contact centres. They reward innovation, teamworking, employee engagement, the delivery of superb Customer Experience and more.

Contact:
For further information please contact our Press Officer.

Name: 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.