Welcome to Burnley – Successful Launch

Marketing Lancashire, the county’s Destination Management Organisation, in partnership with the Burnley Bondholders and Burnley Borough Council, has created a new and bespoke Welcome to Excellence training programme, Welcome to Burnley, which will see up to 500 participants take part in the destination’s biggest single initiative to develop customer service excellence and improve product knowledge across the town.

This enjoyable and thorough one day course, has been tailored specifically for Burnley from the acclaimed Welcome Host Gold training course and benefits from the nationally recognised Welcome to Excellence quality assurance and branding. Once completed, the participants receive a Welcome to Excellence certificate and have the option to take the examination for the City and Guilds Level 2 Award in the Principles of Customer Service in Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism.

The first Welcome to Excellence training day took place at the end of January at Burnley Youth Theatre and was a resounding success, with most of those who attended having also completed the City & Guilds course which is a nationally recognised qualification.

“I found the programme exciting and informative. The trainer was fantastic.”

“All aspects of the course were useful to anyone who works

in a business which deals with customers”

“I really enjoyed the training. It was good to freshen up on

customer service  skills and look at new ways of improving the service”

Course participant comments

Welcome to Burnley provides customer-facing businesses with the tools to deliver world class service, to communicate what’s special about the destination and to help shape positive opinions of those looking to visit, relocate, work or do business in the area.

Chief Executive of Burnley Borough Council, Steve Rumbelow said

“To help the economy of Burnley to grow and prosper we need people to be committed to the town and the place and this is what Welcome to Burnley is all about.  Taking part in the Welcome to Burnley course will help participants provide an exceptional and knowledgeable level of service to people visiting Burnley and is vital to continue our ‘comeback’ trajectory.”                                                                      

Marketing Lancashire will deliver the next Welcome to Burnley training day at Towneley Hall in March and will deliver a ‘Train the Trainer’ programme.  This will enable teams in Burnley to develop in-house training sessions and to roll out the course to front-facing services across the Borough, including hotels, gyms, restaurants, taxi and bus drivers.

Ruth Connor, Chief Executive of Marketing Lancashire states

“As Lancastrians we need to applaud our very many achievements and none more so than Burnley, which has, in recent years, shown genuine innovation and determination in transforming perceptions.  Marketing Lancashire is proud to be co-ordinating this new training initiative to help further Burnley’s reputation as a destination that excels in customer service, encourages innovation and celebrates success.”

David Grant, Burnley Bondholder and Managing Director of Moorhouse’s Brewery said:

“One of Burnley’s many recent successes has been the formation of the Burnley Bondholders, a small group of business leaders fed up with the negative attitude Burnley receives from those outside the town.

“As businesses grow in an ever competitive market, reacting to and improving customer service will be one of the factors that set us apart from the opposition. Every day we have the chance to provide the best welcome, attracting returning customers – the kind who will tell other people good things about us.

“Studies have shown that satisfied customers will tell two or three people about their experience, while dissatisfied customers will tell eight to ten people and some will push this number to twenty. You can do something about this if you act quickly and deal with the complaint, then an unhappy customer becomes a loyal customer. 80% will come back to you if you’ve treated them fairly and that rises to the upper 90’s if you respond immediately.”

For more information on the Welcome to Excellence suite of training courses and to discuss Welcome to Burnley and other bespoke destination training opportunities please contact:

Helen Heyworth  at Marketing Lancashire Tel: 01772 426454

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Media enquiries: Anna Izza, Head of PR and Communications, Marketing Lancashire

     Tel: 01772 426 459