A Welsh welcome
Published: 30 September, 2008
In recent years Cardiff's Docklands has seen a remarkable renaissance, bringing life back into an area that had seen decades of decline. Iconic new structures have helped place the Welsh capital on the international cultural map, and none is more prominent than the Wales Millennium Centre.
The stunning building, designed by the Cardiff-based Percy Thomas Partnership, opened in 2004. It is home to the Welsh National Opera as well as hosting a busy programme of events both large and small.
And a name familiar to Shopping Centre readers features prominently in the Wales Millennium Centre: the cornerstone of the building is the main 1,900-seat Donald Gordon Theatre, reflecting the fact that as founding patron, Gordon - founder and president of Capital Shopping Centres - donated £10m to finance the centre's construction and its ongoing performance programming.
In addition the centre houses the Weston Studio Theatre, seating 200; a fully equipped dance studio; corporate hospitality rooms; a fully equipped recording studio; three large rehearsal suites and an orchestral rehearsal hall; a range of public spaces which provide areas for a number of free daily arts performances in a relaxed setting; and a range of shops, cafés, restaurants and bars. As head of the Visitor Services department, Leonie Wallace is responsible for customer service and the front line team in this immensely complex place.
The focus of development activity is now moving back into Cardiff city centre with the million-sq ft St David's 2 project. The joint venture between Land Securities and Capital Shopping Centres (that man Gordon again) is more than doubling the size of the old St David's shopping centre with a new mall anchored by a 250,000-sq ft John Lewis store.
A year away from opening the extension is on time, and despite the tough market conditions is letting well. In parallel with the new-build project, the public areas of the existing centre are undergoing a thorough revamp, with new finishes and M&E being installed in a rolling programme, largely at night to minimise disruption during the trading day.
Steven Madeley is general manager at St David's, juggling the demands of keeping a major centre trading through a massive refurb while at the same time preparing to assimilate the retailers in the extension.
Shopping centre and property performance consultant Kingsley Lipsey Morgan brought Madeley and Wallace together for a day to see what they could learn from their very different operations.
It quickly became apparent that neither of them comes from a conventional property or facilities management background. Leonie Wallace is steeped in the theatre and prior to coming to the Wales Millennium Centre in 2004, she was front of house manager for the King's and Festival Theatres in Edinburgh. She originally trained in technical theatre and has worked in various areas of theatre, including stage management and press administration for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Madeley is probably the only centre manager to be a qualified pharmacist. He spent most of his career with Boots, becoming a store manager and rising to be one of four regional managers responsible for over 300 branches. Last year he crossed the mall from the Boots Cardiff store to the management office at the St David's centre, but only this summer he spent a week back behind the counter in order to maintain his pharmaceutical qualification.
So despite their very different operations, could the two find any common ground? "I knew St David's was extremely busy with more than 20 million visitors a year," says Wallace, "but what surprised me was the level of detail Steven goes into with the retail businesses. He walks the mall and he's experiencing those issues first hand."
"Customer flow at the Millennium Centre is more predictable, because they know how many tickets they've sold," agrees Madeley. "But that means they know their customers better. I was particularly impressed by what they do for all their customers with things like audio descriptions for the blind.
"The team is multi-skilled and they're a pretty confident bunch because of the way they're rotated around different roles. We're going to try to weave that into the way we set up our customer services."
"We recruit 'people people'," says Wallace. "They don't have to be hugely extrovert but I always say to staff on induction days: 'If you don't enjoy working with people now's the time to leave'."
"That's going to be an issue for us as well," says Madeley. "We're going to need 4,000 more people in 2009. We're already working with Jobcentre Plus to get people onto a database ahead of recruitment, and Skillsmart will train over 1,000 people in the Retail Works programme, which teaches them the basics of the retailing trade."
Both managers are aware that their staff are not only the face of the brand, but have wider responsibilities. "We aim to offer a warm Welsh welcome," says Wallace, "and that means our staff should all have a knowledge of activities and events outside the centre."
And Madeley has a similar approach at St David's: "All our staff have what we call 'Welcome Host' training because they're ambassadors for Cardiff as much as the centre."
So what would they change as a result of their job swap?
"How we sell on the floor, how we merchandise," says Wallace. "It's opened my eyes to our less-abled customers," says Madeley. "I like the way Leonie's staff are trained to be aware of that. And I like the badge system to show that people have acquired different skills."
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=== Analysis ===
I learned my first word of Welsh when I met with Stephen Madeley and Leonie Wallace to hear about their 'Changing Places' experience. The word is 'cwtch', and it means hug or cuddle.
General manager Stephen Madeley holds a 'cwtch', a briefing with his team before each day's trading begins; it's a get together to share information and make sure everybody is well briefed and fully able to meet the needs of retailers and the shoppers who visit St David's. Similarly, Leonie Wallace, at the Wales Millennium Centre, takes care to brief and re-brief her team at regular intervals. This commitment to communication is one ingredient in a potent mix of management measures, including careful staff selection, training and motivation, that result in a prescription for great customer service delivery.
In their different roles, Stephen and Leonie are passionately committed to delivering great customer service. Both realise that their front-line staff are their greatest marketing asset and that, whatever the individual roles may be, all need to present a united front and deliver consistently high standards of service to their customers.
Personnel at the Wales Millennium Centre are multi-skilled, which makes the operation financially efficient and highly flexible. This is achieved by rotating staff through different jobs, giving them the chance to acquire accreditations called 'badges', and enabling them to stay motivated.
While staff rotation is not so applicable at St David's, Stephen ensures his employees all receive 'Welcome Host' training.
Both teams support their efforts through constant measurement and a drive to improve performance. Leonie monitors feedback from visitors and acts to correct any flaws in service delivery, while Stephen conducts annual satisfaction studies with retailers and shoppers. This commitment to customer service is far from being 'lip service' and perhaps this constitutes evidence that a 'cwtch' is a great way to start the day.
l Sarah Mather is senior consultant at Kingsley Lipsey Morgan
