We recently hosted our annual two day conference for all of our staff members at the Tewkesbury Park Hotel. Our annual conference serves as an opportunity to inspire and motivate our dedicated team, whilst also emphasising the importance of excellent service. With a line up of fantastic guest speakers, the conference aimed to empower the staff, enhance their skills and further encourage our culture of excellent customer service.
Over 40 colleagues, including the Head Office team and our Area Managers from across the country, gathered together fostering a sense of unity among the team with everyone motivated to provide exceptional care and guidance to the students and parents they serve. It also reinforced our commitment to service, empowering our staff to go above and beyond in their roles.
Recognising that service excellence is at the core of our mission to support and guide children, we sought to equip our staff with the tools and mindset required to exceed our customers expectations.
The conference was opened by Pippa’s Managing Director, Ben Hughes, who updated staff on the progress the business has made as well as outlining exciting plans for the future. Whilst excellent Guardianship remains central to all that we strive to achieve, the development of a portfolio of high-quality complementary products and new services will further support the needs of our customers in the coming years.
To infuse the conference with valuable insights and inspiration we also invited a group of esteemed guest speakers who have a wealth of knowledge in their respective fields. These speakers shared their experiences, wisdom and practical advice on achieving and sustaining service excellence.
Andrew McMillan
Presentation: Defining and Consistently delivering a Great Customer Experience
Andrew McMillan started Engaging Service over ten years ago. Prior to that he spent 28 years working for the John Lewis Partnership, starting as a management trainee to becoming responsible for customer experience across the department store division. Since Engaging Service was founded Andrew has spoken at over 300 conferences and events and has consulted for over 40 organisations globally, ranging from well-known large corporates to SMEs
Yoriko Kuroda
Presentation: Why we choose UK Education
Yoriko is Pippa’s Guardians Japan Representative and also a Mother to a student under Pippa’s Guardianship so has first hand knowledge of our service. Yoriko’s professional background is in the luxury products and services sector, with 25 years’ experience of business development and communications. Yoriko was able to explain the options available to Japanese parents considering sending their child to study in the UK, the Japanese education system and what a Japanese family would expect from our guardianship service.
Saskia Nishimura
Presentation: Aiding Acculturation in British Boarding Schools
Saskia Nishimura is an experienced Teacher of English as a foreign language who has taught in independent boarding schools in both the UK and Japan. Combined with a background in art and a dalliance with financial services, her knowledge crosses educational, creative and business spheres. Saskia helped us to improve our understanding and empathy of those integrating into a new culture and how to build ties and strengthen bonds within our global community.
Giles Bell
Presentation: The academic journey and supporting the expectations of students and parents
Giles has been a teacher at Shrewsbury school since September 1989 and was a Housemaster from September 1999-2013. He is currently the Senior Admissions tutor and travels to Africa and Asia. Giles helps to ensure a smooth transition from students at Prep School, on to Senior School and ultimately University applications. This journey was the focus of his presentation.
Upon returning from the conference, many members of our team from across the country got in touch to share their conference highlights and takeaways from the event.
“I had a fabulous time at my first conference. I am proud to be part of the PG team!”
Debbie Simmons, Area Manager for Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire
“It was tremendous to see all you lovely ladies and gentlemen, I feel so inspired again, thankyou”
Caroline Heath, Area Manager for Cheltenham
“A really wonderful and informative two days”
Imogen Trevethan, Designated Safeguarding Lead and Head of Compliance
“So lovely to meet Yoriko in person, a fascinating presentation, certainly the highlight for me”
Touche Hogben, Area Manager for Somerset
