Annual survey sees city centre stores and restaurants collectively achieve record overall customer satisfaction score of 85%
Manchester’s shops and restaurants are delivering record levels of customer service, according to an annual survey commissioned by Manchester City Centre Business Improvement District.
City centre stores and hospitality businesses recorded an overall customer satisfaction score of 85%, up 3% from 2022, with more than 200 out of the 300 businesses taking part scoring over 80% and 31 businesses scoring a perfect 100%.
Conducted by respected industry market research experts, Storecheckers, 300 Manchester city centre businesses received ‘secret shopper’ visits over the last two months, which revealed the city’s top shops and hospitality businesses for customer service across 17 different categories including Fashion, Health & Beauty, Home & Lifestyle, Bank & Building Society, Technology, Restaurant and Casual Dining.
The winners of each category were announced today (Tuesday 4 July) at an Awards Breakfast at the Royal Exchange Theatre with Manchester radio DJs Rachel Burke-Davies and Rob Ellis on hand to present the winners with their awards.
Scooping the award for Advised Customer Service was Kuoni Travel on King Street, while the Jewellery award went to David M Robinson in St Ann’s Square. Vodafone UK took top spot in the Technology category, with Hotel Chocolat in Manchester Arndale picking up the award in the Home & Lifestyle category. In Food & Drink, Simon Shaw’s El Gato Negro on King Street took home the customer service award in the Restaurant category with Wolf Italian Street Food in Manchester Arndale’s Halle Place securing the award for Casual Dining and Gong Cha and Black Sheep Coffee being crowned joint winners in the coffee shop/ takeaway category.
Full list of winners:
Advised Customer Service – Kuoni
Bank & Building Society – Lloyds Bank
Boutique Men – Charles Tyrwhitt
Boutique Women – Oliver Bonas
Fashion (Large Store) – Hollister
Fashion Stores – Burberry
Footwear – Kurt Geiger
General & Food Retail – Marks and Spencer
Health & Beauty – Neal’s Yard Remedies
Home & Lifestyle – Hotel Chocolat
Jeweller – David M Robinson
Stationary & Books – Ryman
Technology – Vodafone UK
Hospitality Restaurant – El Gato Negro
Hospitality Casual Dining – Wolf Italian Street Food
Hospitality Quick Service – Fuel Juice Bar
Hospitality Coffee Shop / Food Takeaway – joint winners – Gong Cha and Black Sheep Coffee
Phil Schulze, Manchester City Centre BID Manager said: “Manchester is one of the UK’s top three destinations for international and domestic visitors and the only UK city to feature in Lonely Planet’s prestigious annual list as a top world destination for 2023, so it’s imperative that our levels of customer service are as excellent as the city we represent.
“These results are a real credit to our city centre retail, service and hospitality businesses who have demonstrated a tremendous amount of resilience in what remains a challenging time for their sectors.”
Manchester City Centre Business Improvement District represents more than 600 city centre businesses including retail, hospitality and offices. In recent years Manchester BID has played an instrumental role in the city’s recovery post-Covid and brings city centre businesses together with key authorities including Manchester City Council, Marketing Manchester, Transport for Greater Manchester, and Greater Manchester Police – alongside many delivery, creative and media partners.
Currently in its third five-year term, the BID supports businesses through its operational and lobbying services, attracts visitors, shoppers, and workers into the city centre through its annual events calendar, and continues to deliver regional, national, and international promotional campaigns.
As well as funding a team of City Hosts (Tourist Information Officers), the BID has developed, and now annually delivers, some of the city’s most exciting public events, driving additional footfall, spend and positive PR for the city centre. Events include the Manchester Flower Festival, Halloween in the City, student shopping events in partnership with Manchester Arndale, and the city’s popular Chinese New Year celebrations in collaboration with the Federation of Chinese Associations of Manchester (FCAM).
The BID also delivers a substantial regular programme of street cleaning and environmental improvements to continue to enhance the city centre.
More information can be found at manchesterbid.com
