Dave Cooper Appointed CIBSE President for 2026–2027 with Focus on Resilience

Dace Cooper delivering his address

The CIBSE has appointed Dave Cooper as President for 2026–2027. His theme, "Future-proofing through resilience", highlights the need for adaptable and sustainable buildings.

The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has appointed Dave Cooper as its President for 2026–2027, marking the beginning of a new chapter focused on resilience, adaptability and long-term thinking within the built environment sector.

Dave officially succeeded outgoing President Vince Arnold following his inauguration at the CIBSE Annual General Meeting 2026, held at the organisation's London headquarters.

Bringing more than 40 years of experience in the lift and escalator industry, Dave Cooper is widely recognised as one of the sector's most respected figures. His career has combined technical expertise with a passion for education, professional development and safety, helping to shape standards and best practices across the industry.

A longstanding member of CIBSE, Dave has played a key role in the development of several editions of CIBSE Guide D: Transportation Systems in Buildings, one of the industry's most influential technical publications. His contributions to engineering have earned him both a CIBSE Silver Medal and an MBE, reflecting his impact on the profession over many years.

Alongside his new presidential duties, Dave continues to hold a number of influential positions across academia, industry and charitable organisations. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of East London and has previously been involved with the MSc in Lift Engineering programme at the University of Northampton. His extensive portfolio of roles also includes leadership positions within professional engineering bodies, educational trusts and industry charities.

In his Presidential Address, Dave introduced his theme for the year: "Future-proofing through resilience." The theme focuses on the need for engineers to design buildings, systems and infrastructure capable of adapting to changing demands, emerging technologies and future challenges.

Speaking at the AGM, Dave stressed that engineering professionals must think beyond immediate problems and consider the long-term needs of society. His message was straightforward but powerful: "Future-proofing isn't optional, it's essential."

The theme comes at a time when businesses and organisations across the construction and property sectors are facing increasing pressure to deliver sustainable, efficient and adaptable buildings. From climate resilience and energy efficiency to digital transformation and evolving workplace requirements, the challenges facing today's engineers are more complex than ever.

Commenting to That's Business on his appointment, Dave said he was honoured to serve as President and looked forward to working with CIBSE members around the world to promote engineering excellence and support the next generation of professionals.

His presidency promises to place resilience at the heart of engineering conversations, helping ensure that the buildings and infrastructure created today remain fit for purpose for decades to come.

You can read Dave's full address here:- https://www.cibse.org/about-cibse/governance/our-people/cibse-president/presidential-addresses/

https://www.cibse.org/

Navigating Mobile Phone Services for SMEs: A Guide to Choosing the Right Provider

In today's digital age, the importance of a reliable mobile phone service for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cannot be overstated. 

Whether it's staying connected with clients, managing remote teams, or accessing crucial business applications on the go, having a dependable mobile network is essential for smooth operations. 

However, with a plethora of options available in the market, selecting the right mobile phone service can be a daunting task for SME owners. To alleviate this challenge, we've compiled a comprehensive guide to help SMEs navigate through the process of selecting the most suitable mobile phone service provider.

Assess Your Business Needs:

Before diving into the sea of mobile phone service providers, it's crucial to evaluate your business requirements. Consider factors such as the number of employees who require mobile connections, the frequency of international calls, data usage patterns, and the need for additional features like mobile hotspot tethering or international roaming. Understanding your specific needs will provide clarity when comparing different service providers.

Research and Compare Providers:

Once you've identified your business needs, conduct thorough research on the various mobile phone service providers available in your region. Pay attention to factors such as network coverage, reliability, pricing plans, customer service reputation, and additional perks or benefits offered. Utilize online comparison tools and read customer reviews to gain insights into the experiences of other businesses with each provider.

Consider Network Coverage and Reliability:

For SMEs, having consistent network coverage and reliable connectivity is paramount. Evaluate the coverage maps provided by different service providers to ensure that your business operations are adequately supported, especially if you have remote or field-based employees. Additionally, consider factors such as network speeds, data congestion during peak hours, and the reliability of voice call connections.

Analyse Pricing Plans and Flexibility:

Cost-effectiveness is a significant consideration for SMEs when selecting a mobile phone service provider. Compare the pricing plans offered by different providers, taking into account factors such as monthly fees, data allowances, call and text quotas, and any additional charges or hidden fees. Look for providers that offer flexible plans allowing you to scale up or down as your business needs evolve, without incurring hefty penalties.

Evaluate Customer Support and Service Quality:

In the event of technical issues or account queries, reliable customer support can make a significant difference in ensuring uninterrupted business operations. Prioritize service providers known for their responsive customer support teams and efficient resolution of issues. Consider reaching out to each provider's customer service channels to assess their responsiveness and level of assistance.

Explore Value-Added Services and Benefits:

Many mobile phone service providers offer value-added services and benefits that can enhance the overall productivity and efficiency of your business. These may include complimentary access to business productivity apps, device management tools, discounted hardware purchases, or priority customer support for business customers. Evaluate these additional offerings to determine their relevance and potential value to your SME.

Seek Recommendations and Referrals:

Don't hesitate to seek recommendations and referrals from fellow SME owners, industry peers, or business networking groups. Personal experiences and insights can provide valuable guidance in selecting the right mobile phone service provider for your business. Ask about their experiences with different providers, including any challenges faced or standout features that they found particularly beneficial.

In conclusion, selecting the right mobile phone service provider for your SME requires careful consideration of your business needs, thorough research, and a comparative analysis of available options. By evaluating factors such as network coverage, pricing plans, customer support quality, and additional benefits, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your business objectives and ensures seamless connectivity for your team. Remember, choosing the right mobile phone service provider is an investment in the efficiency and productivity of your SME.

Elevating Customer Experiences: Strategies for Improving Customer Service

In today's highly competitive business landscape, providing exceptional customer service is no longer just a nicety; it's a necessity. Customers now have a myriad of options at their fingertips, making their loyalty harder to secure. 

To thrive in this environment, businesses must prioritise and continuously refine their customer service strategies. In this blog post, we'll explore effective strategies for improving customer service and enhancing overall customer satisfaction.

Understand Your Customers:

The foundation of exceptional customer service lies in understanding your customers' needs, preferences, and pain points. Conducting regular customer surveys, analysing feedback, and tracking customer behavior can provide valuable insights. By creating detailed customer personas, businesses can tailor their service approach to better meet individual needs.

Invest in Employee Training:

Well-trained and motivated employees are the frontline ambassadors of your brand. Invest in comprehensive training programs to equip your staff with the necessary skills to handle customer inquiries, resolve issues efficiently, and communicate effectively. Foster a customer-centric culture within the organization to ensure that every employee values and prioritises customer satisfaction.

Leverage Technology Wisely:

Technology can be a game-changer in enhancing customer service. Implementing customer relationship management (CRM) systems, chatbots, and artificial intelligence can streamline processes and provide quick responses. However, it's crucial to strike a balance: While technology can automate certain tasks, the human touch remains essential, even vital, for building genuine connections.

Create Seamless Multichannel Experiences:

Customers expect to interact with businesses across various channels seamlessly. Whether it's through social media, email, phone, or in-person, the experience should be consistent. Integrating and synchronising customer data across channels ensures a unified view, allowing businesses to provide personalised and efficient service regardless of the platform.

Prioritise Proactive Communication:

Anticipating and addressing customer needs before they become problems is a hallmark of excellent customer service. Implement proactive communication strategies, such as sending timely updates, providing relevant information, and seeking feedback. By staying ahead of potential issues, businesses can foster trust and loyalty among their customer base.

Establish a Robust Customer Feedback Loop:

Regularly collecting and analyzing customer feedback is essential for continuous improvement. Implement surveys, encourage online reviews, and actively seek input from customers. Use the insights gained to identify areas for improvement and to celebrate successes. A transparent feedback loop demonstrates that you value your customers' opinions and are committed to meeting their expectations.

Empower Customers with Self-Service Options:

Offering self-service options can empower customers and enhance their overall experience. Develop user-friendly FAQs, knowledge bases, and tutorials that enable customers to find solutions to common issues independently. This not only reduces the burden on customer support teams but also provides customers with a sense of control and convenience.

Resolve Issues with Empathy and Accountability:

Mistakes and issues are inevitable, but how they are handled defines the customer experience. Train your team to approach problems with empathy, actively listen to customers, and take ownership of issues. A sincere apology and a commitment to finding a resolution can turn a negative experience into an opportunity to build trust and loyalty.

In a world where customers are more discerning and demanding than ever, businesses must continuously evolve their customer service strategies to stay ahead. By understanding customer needs, investing in employee training, leveraging technology wisely, and maintaining open lines of communication, businesses can create memorable and positive customer experiences that lead to long-term success. 

Remember, exceptional customer service is not just a goal; it's a journey that requires commitment, adaptability, and a genuine passion for customer satisfaction.

(Image courtesy Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

Elevating Customer Experiences: Strategies for Improving Customer Service

In the competitive landscape of today's business world, providing exceptional customer service is a key differentiator. 

A satisfied customer not only becomes a loyal advocate but also contributes significantly to a company's growth through positive word-of-mouth. 

In this blog post, we will explore effective strategies for improving customer service to create lasting impressions and foster long-term relationships.

Understand Your Customers

To deliver outstanding customer service, it's crucial to understand your customers' needs, preferences, and pain points. Utilize customer feedback surveys, analyse customer behaviour data, and actively listen to customer inquiries. This information will enable you to tailor your services to meet and exceed their expectations.

Empower Your Customer Service Team

Your frontline employees are the face of your business. Empower them with the knowledge, tools, and authority to resolve issues promptly. Investing in training programs, providing access to relevant resources, and encouraging a customer-centric mindset will empower your team to handle diverse situations effectively.

Implement a Multi-Channel Approach

Customers today interact with businesses through various channels, including phone, email, social media, and live chat. Implement a multi-channel approach to cater to diverse customer preferences. Ensure seamless integration across channels, allowing customers to switch between them without losing context. This not only enhances convenience but also demonstrates a commitment to meeting customers where they are.

Embrace Technology

Leverage technology to streamline and enhance customer service processes. Chatbots, artificial intelligence, and automated ticketing systems can handle routine inquiries, freeing up your human resources to focus on more complex issues. Implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system can help you keep track of customer interactions, providing valuable insights for personalised service.

Set Clear Service Standards

Establishing clear service standards is essential for maintaining consistency in customer service. Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and regularly measure and evaluate your team's performance against these benchmarks. This not only helps in identifying areas for improvement but also motivates the team to strive for excellence.

Proactive Problem Solving

Anticipate customer issues and address them proactively. Monitor trends in customer inquiries and feedback to identify potential pain points. By taking a proactive approach, you can prevent issues from escalating and showcase your commitment to customer satisfaction.

Personalize Customer Interactions

Customers appreciate a personalised experience. Use customer data to tailor interactions and recommendations. Address customers by their names, acknowledge previous interactions, and make recommendations based on their preferences. Personalisation creates a sense of value and builds a stronger emotional connection.

Continuous Improvement Through Feedback

Encourage customers to provide feedback and actively seek ways to improve your services. Use both positive and negative feedback as valuable insights for refining your customer service strategies. Regularly review and update your processes based on customer input to stay ahead of evolving expectations.

Elevating customer service requires a holistic approach that combines a deep understanding of customer needs, empowered and well-trained teams, and the effective use of technology. By implementing these strategies, businesses can create exceptional customer experiences, foster customer loyalty, and ultimately drive long-term success.

Customer Services: They won the argument but lost the customer

Picture the scene: It is a branch of a major supermarket chain. A customer has a query. He believes that he has been over-charged by £2.50 so he seeks out the Customer Services point in the shop.

There used to be a proper Customer Services point with a Customer Services Manager who would be able to resolve problems quickly and efficiently.

However, someone decided it would be a good idea to get rid of the Customer Services point and the Customer Services Manager and have the Customer Services point as a cramped addition to the cigarette and lottery kiosk, so that customer service is carried out by whomever can be bothered to tear themselves away from either selling fags and Lotto tickets or skulking round the back chatting with colleagues about the latest soaps.

On this particular occasion the Customer Services point operator was someone who had joined the supermarket staff as a sulky and somewhat graceless teenager. Fifteen years later she has developed into a sulky and somewhat graceless woman. Only someone with a particularly dark sense of humour would have allowed her anywhere near a customer, let alone actually give her responsibility for customer services!

She rudely told the customer that he was wrong. He queried this and she responded in an ill-tempered (and graceless) way by saying: "I will fetch the supervisor!"

The supervisor arrived. And appeared to be a student of about 18. The wisdom of leaving an 18 year-old student responsible for a store of that size is open to debate. She confirmed that the answer that the customer had been given was right. She gave him this news in a way that was irritating in that she told him this in a rather triumphalist way. Both the student manager and the queen of sulk seemed to think that they had won against the customer.

And in a way, that was true. They had won the argument. But they had lost the customer. They had either lost the vision of excellence in customer service, or never had it in the first place.

UK businesses lose £14bn every year due to poor online customer experiences

A survey commissioned by Tealeaf, a top producer and developer of online customer experience management (CEM) software, and conducted for them by Econsultancy, shows the shocking fact that businesses in the UK are losing the equivalent of some 24% of their entire annual online revenue due to poor online customer experiences. This equates to £14bn alone in the past year amongst online retailers . This is despite 84% stating that selling more products or services is a key objective for the business. (EDITOR: That's nearly one whole quarter!)

The full findings of the survey of almost 500 global senior business professionals are available in a report released yesterday, entitled Reducing Customer Struggle.

It actually makes pretty grim reading. It points out that nearly one fifth (18%) of businesses rate their understanding of the online customer experience as “poor‟ or “very poor‟, with only 4% classifying it as “excellent‟.

This lack of understanding seems to centre on the bottom of the sales funnel with the majority of companies saying they have “limited” or “no understanding” of why customers abandon a shopping cart (78%) or leave a site without converting (81%). Instead, most are reactive and rely on other channels to discover customer issues, with 76% most likely to learn about site problems as a result of calls to the customer service team or through customer emails.

Steve Robinson, CEO at MandMDirect.com believes understanding online customer experience should be a key focus for all businesses. “As consumers continue to flock to the web, ebusinesses need to dramatically improve the experience they receive through greater actionable insights. Failure to do so will render companies powerless in making informed site developments, which could reduce their competitive advantage as a result.”

Linking online and offline channels and sharing insights between them is also a major challenge for businesses with only 3% describing the multichannel experience they provide as “excellent”. Just under a quarter (24%) rate it as “poor” or “very poor” and only about a half (49%) have processes in place to prioritise and rectify the problems and issues customers face online.

Respondents estimate that 15% of total inbound calls relate to website problems but, despite this, 68% fail to give call centre agents access to information about the online experience of individual customers. Although the majority of companies (86%) say their call centre staff are able to route website issues to the right people in the business, only a third (36%) measure the extent to which these problems are then resolved.

“This research demonstrates a clear link between online customer experience and revenue generation,” said Geoff Galat, CMO of Tealeaf. “Ebusinesses have much to gain from better online visibility, particularly at the bottom of the sales funnel, where conversion rates should be highest. A poor online user experience, coupled with a lack of visibility and understanding, translates into a significant amount of lost revenue as well as added costs due to increased inbound enquiries.”

“The web lies at the heart of any multichannel business these days and so providing visibility across all business units will ensure a seamless experience at all brand touchpoints,” said Ashley Friedlein, CEO at Econsultancy. “As the online channel becomes increasingly valuable for business, it is vital for companies to ensure the customer journey is as pain-free and seamless as possible. Companies that fail to put in place the technology and processes necessary to improve online experiences will miss out on this growing financial potential.”

You can find the results of the survey here:-
www.tealeaf.com/customer-experience-management/resource-center/register.php?doc=reducing-customer-struggle

(EDITOR: However, how many people have abandoned a trip to a real rather than a virtual store due to poor customer service? Quite a lot. The same as those who abandon an online shopping trip? It would be interesting for someone to conduct a survey in to this.)