Angela Knowles-Ellis, Head of Telephony at a Capita run contact centre in Darlington, explains how training from bereavement charity Winston’s Wish has helped staff deal with vulnerable customers during the pandemic.

A new report, Supporting local communities and people: are local government grants effective?’, published today by CIPFA in partnership with Capita plc.

As declared by Dr Dominique Hes in 2017, there is quite simply “no sustainability without community engagement”. The topic of how organisations bring their staff and customers ’with them’ on cultural and transformative journeys is never far away.

One of the things that the pandemic has surfaced is increasing inequality. The impact of Covid- 19 continues to take its toll not only on people’s physical and mental health but also on their financial stability.

As a market leader in debt management, we are witnessing first-hand the devastating financial impact Covid-19 is having on the personal finances of so many people.

The utility industry has faced consistent challenges with customer satisfaction, and is rated lower than the UK average for transparency, customer ethos and emotional connection.

In any given year, and setting aside the extra Covid-19-based demands of 2020, the UK Government disburses over £100bn in grants and funded schemes.

The distribution of grants is an effective instrument for improving and steering economic, social and health outcomes in the UK.

For many people, the moment of truth with an organisation is when things go wrong - for example, when they fall behind on loan repayments.

Ian Elam, Business Development Director at Capita Customer Management, explains how data allows you to engage with your customers in a very personal way and reduce debt write-offs.