The historic market town of Ruthin is one of the top places in the UK for customer service – and that’s official.
Denbighshire County Council enlisted the help of a firm of retail experts to put Ruthin’s independent retailers under the spotlight.
Business owners were invited to Ruthin Castle to a presentation on the findings of the research conducted by government licensed Skillsmart Retail
It included two separate mystery shopping days and street interviews to find out what shoppers and visitors thought about the retail offer.
The results showed that, when it comes to customer service, Ruthin’s independent traders scored way above the national average.
In fact, according to Skillsmart’s location model project manager, Wendy Holt, Ruthin came out 16th of the 90 location model surveys carried out nationwide – beating towns and cities like Stratford-upon-Avon, Bristol and Cheltenham.
She said: “The mystery shopping days do not just involve someone popping into a shop to buy a small item.
“Instead, it is a detailed 60 question questionnaire covering things such as visual merchandising, whether staff actually make eye contact, branding and the local knowledge of staff when it comes to the town and its tourist attractions.
“Ruthin certainly excelled when it came to customer service and that is a massive positive all those in the retail sector should be proud of.
“We also carried out a street survey and remarkably 95 per cent of those questioned felt safe and secure when shopping in Ruthin, well above the national average of just 77 per cent. Again, this is a real positive when it comes to the overall shopping experience of the town.”
The three businesses that scored highest when it came to the mystery shopping survey were each presented with certificates.
The overall winner of the mystery shopping survey was soft furnishing store Prints ‘n’ Plains which is based in Granary Courtyard, Clwyd Street.
Proprietor Denise Smallwood-Jones says she was thrilled to have scored a very high 95.5 per cent in the mystery shopping survey.
She said: “We have a small team of Sallie Randles and me working in the store as well as off-site fitters so to be named as the top independent store when it comes to customer service is a real tonic.
“We do pride ourselves on offering that special service and try to ensure our customers leave happy and wanting to return. We are, after all, a family run small business and good customer service is of vital importance to us.
“I am delighted Denbighshire County Council arranged for the survey and believe it can only help the town move forward and improve even further the retail offer to our visitors.”
In second place was Gareth Lynch Jewellers, in Clwyd Street, with an overall score of 95.2 per cent.
There to collect the award were joint owners of the long-established business, Barbara Wheatley and Alison Gomm.
Alison said: “We are both from Ruthin and are really passionate about the town. We bought the business more than 11 years ago retaining the name as it was a really established brand and a respected business.
“We are delighted to have been recognised for our customer service. We do consider it an extremely important component of our business. We want to see Ruthin go forward and be increasingly competitive in its retail offer.”
Barbara added: “I agree with Alison, we are delighted our customer service has been recognised through the mystery shoppers report. We strive to give our customers and visitors to the town a welcoming experience.”
Smith and Schwartz Opticians of Welsh Street were third with a rating of 94.6 per cent.
There to collect the award were brother and sister, Kevin Smith and Lorraine Roberts, both directors of the family business.
They were joined by optical dispensing assistant Rose Jones who has worked for the company for more than 17 years.
Kevin said; “We are absolutely delighted to be recognised and rewarded for our customer service. We are passionate about Ruthin and want to see a healthy and vibrant town centre.
“I see it as crucial that we all work together, the town centre business and Denbighshire County Council to push on and further improve the shopping experience for residents and visitors alike.”
Jeremy Knibbs, Denbighshire County Council’s Business and Tourism Support Manager, was delighted Ruthin scored so highly in the report.
He said: “It is absolutely wonderful that the town has done so well. So far there have been 90 reports completed on location models nationwide and for Ruthin to be ahead of places such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Cheltenham is absolutely brilliant.
“We need to have confidence in the town and businesses need to take pride in what they have achieved. It is important we look at the whole report and understand all the messages highlighted within it.
“We must now work collectively to continue to improve the shopping experience by driving Ruthin forward.
“The report compliments a whole series of initiatives we have undertaken for instance our work with Ruthin company, Crucial Marketing, in dressing long-term vacant shops with graphics depicting local scenes and events.
“This has the effect of making premises more attractive while also including the contact details of local letting agents so prospective lease holders are not having to deal with letting agents in Manchester, Liverpool or beyond. “
Cllr Bill Cowie, Chair of Denbighshire County Council, said the independent traders should be proud of the findings in the report.
He said: “The Ruthin Location Model Report will be made available on our website and will help businesses in the future redevelopment of the town.
“As a council we will now look closely at the full report and work with businesses to further enhance the shopping experience for our visitors.”
Staff from Coleg Llandrillo Cymru were also on hand at the presentation evening to offer training advice to independent business owners.
Tim Peel, their Skills Shop Manager, said: “Following the report we are able to offer support in addressing the training needs of independent businesses.
“Our trainers are able to deliver a range of Mary Portas approved training models through our Retail Skills Academy.
“We can access a vast range of training needs or simply offer advice or support, anything to help independent business deliver a better retail experience.”
Anne Seaman, the Chief Executive of Skillsmart Retail, said: “The report is given to each individual retailer who took part in the mystery shopping and will be hugely useful to help them pinpoint what improvements they can make and we will be following up with potential training opportunities to help the retailers to be the best they can be. ”
