19 February 2018 
Cheryl Pick, Projects and Engagement Manager
Estates Services at the University of Oxford has reached its long-standing goal of gaining accreditation for the whole department under the government-led Customer Service Excellence (CSE) framework.
Over the last few years each team within the department has secured accreditation in turn, and the last one – Asset and Space Management – reached this target in January. It is not only the first part of the University of Oxford that has achieved this – it is also the first university estates department anywhere in the UK to do so.
CSE provides objective, external confirmation that everyone from maintenance operatives and building managers to space planners and security officers works according to best practice in their fields, with a common goal of providing customers all over the University with the best possible service.
‘I’m delighted that we have completed the journey I set us on when I arrived here’ says Paul Goffin, Director of Estates. ‘Reaching this point hasn’t always been easy, but I believe it has been extremely beneficial in moving us towards a mind-set of consistently putting customers’ needs first. Feedback from around the University tells us this has been noted and is widely appreciated.’
For some teams, reaching this point meant major changes to how they approached their work and customer relationships; to help with this cultural shift, the department put in place six core values – continuous improvement, timeliness, consultation, listening, openness, and fair and equal treatment. From now on, all teams within the department will be assessed annually as part of a three-year rolling programme to ensure that high standards are maintained.
