It's now official! Last night, Gatton Manor was named winner of the Customer Service Award in the 2008 Surrey Business Awards.

Gatton Manor, the hotel and golf club, based in Ockley, was last night named winner of the customer service award at the 2008 Surrey Business Awards. This was the first year Gatton Manor had taken part in this prestigious award, beating last year’s finalists iTS European and Barnett Hill Conference Centre.

Proprietors of Gatton Manor since January 2005, Patrick and Belinda Kiely, comment “We are truly delighted that we have won this award. It’s a fantastic recognition of the work and attitude of our team over the past 3 years. Without them we would not have won this award. This is a multi-faceted business with many different types of customers (golfers, conference delegates, wedding guests) having varying requirements. Every day, our team recognise these individual requirements and respond accordingly by welcoming and ensuring that our customers enjoy their visit with us. From feedback we know that our customers think very highly of our service and we are grateful for their continued support.”

Set amongst 200 acres of tranquil Surrey countryside in Ockley, Gatton Manor  provides a championship golf course, 18 bedroom hotel, 3 conference rooms, restaurant and bar, civil ceremony room and a large function room popular for weddings and functions. Each area has been the subject of extensive refurbishment and renovation to ensure each guest enjoys a pleasant and memorable experience while visiting Gatton.

The Surrey Business Awards comprises 11 categories related to business, marketing and services. The customer service award (sponsored by Barlow Robbins and The Institute of Customer Service) was based on a strict elimination process, comprising of a detailed nomination paper, allowing participants to give positive statements to support their nomination. Those lucky enough to be short listed faced the reality of the competition with two judges visiting each short listed business, to experience and evaluate the offering. The selected finalists then faced the agonising wait of the awards dinner to hear the lucky winners!

The award ceremony was held on Thursday 7th February at Sandown Park Racecourse and included a dinner and evening ball for all nominees.

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