In November 2002, after a careful evaluation process to identify a strategic partner, Westminster signed one of the largest contracts in local government history with Vertex - worth in the region of £420m over 10 years. The aim was to leverage Vertex’s skills, capacity and capabilities to ensure Westminster’s residents were at the heart of council activities and to transform the way local services were delivered through innovation and operational excellence.
Westminster City Council continues to be at the forefront of delivering a better customer experience for its citizens. It has an objective to be ‘infrastructure free’ by 2012 whilst recognising cost effective, and where possible cost neutral solutions to enhance its services for its customers and employees.
Solution
In partnership with the council, Vertex developed a transformation programme to enable the effective transition of 500 staff and 66 services to Vertex. The goal was to implement cost effective solutions to significantly improve customer experience and deliver service transformation. The service lines comprised four distinct areas; customer contact delivery, HR, IT and facilities management.
Innovation & Results
Overall, the transformation has been a major success. Vertex improved customer satisfaction levels within the first six months to 90%. We are delivering cost savings through contact reduction, process refinement and an improved contact strategy, resulting in 94% of citizen enquiries being resolved at the first point of contact.
Our collaborative working style has enabled us to establish an excellent partnership with the council’s team. We have worked closely to improve operational performance and efficiency, including the transition of some carefully selected services in 2006 from the capital to our operations in the Scottish Highlands.
Find out more by downloading the Westminster and Vertex pdf case study