And it’s a win for Friends House at the London Venue and Catering Awards 2021! We’re delighted to have won the award for Best Client Support During Covid-19. It’s always a great achievement to see our work acknowledged by our peers from the events industry. But this year, winning really feels different.

A great win in a difficult year for our industry

In the space of a year and half, we had to shut and reopen several times. We were also faced with a lot of uncertainty as to whether we were going to be able to continue as a business. Now, in November 2021, we can look back and see how far we’ve come. Paul Henderson-Grey, CEO of Quiet Company, which runs Friends House: “We’re so glad to have won the award for Best Client Support During Covid-19. Last year was really challenging for everyone, but our team went the extra mile to support our customers in so many ways. So, I personally want to take this opportunity to thank them for everything they did and continue to do for our customers.”

What did we do to win this award?

We’ve listed below all the actions we took to support our clients and make their event covid-safe.

• From the start of the pandemic, we wanted to keep our customers informed about our updates and covid-safe processes. And to do that efficiently, we decided to turn to videos. Watch our CEO Paul’s video about our covid-safety guidelines back in August 2020.
• We delivered a great customer experience despite the circumstances. Our clients felt safe and well taken care of. Anu Chandy from University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust trusted us with hosting her event:“Our event was organised extremely well and ample measures were taken to make sure that all delegates felt safe and welcome. The rooms were set out with plenty of space for social distancing and hand sanitiser stations were readily available. The staff were on hand to assist with anything and the day ran very smoothly. Looking forward to hosting many more events here in the future.”
• After the first lockdown, we created our COVID-19 resource centre on our website to compile all our safety information in one place.
• At the end of 2020, faced with a growing level of uncertainty, we launched our Peace of Mind Promise. This offer gave the opportunity to customers to either cancel or postpone their event for FREE. Our Sales and Events Supervisor, Sou Manhsinh, even did a video (Twitter link) to explain it all.

What the panel of judges said

Here are a few comments from the judges on our customer service and actions during the pandemic:

“Impressive commitment to clear core values, staff welfare and sustainability – to the benefit of clients.”

“Innovative, sustainable solutions to pandemic challenges like maintaining social distancing and creative catering.”

“Training offered to staff encouraged empathy – fully supported and retained staff during the pandemic.”

“The online covid resource centre is great and the staff training sessions are a great idea to help staff stay on top of requirements and support clients.”

Saying thank you!

A big THANK YOU to our team for putting in the work to make our venue covid-safe and welcoming again for our customers. It wasn’t easy and they delivered! We would also like to thank our customers for their ongoing support throughout the pandemic. All your bookings and messages of support mean the world to us. Finally, we also want to thank Friends (Quakers), who always stand by our side and support us.

We don’t know what the future holds, but we hope the worst is now behind us. In the meantime, we will carry on working and hosting your events. See you soon at Friends House!