Condor Ferries appoints new Customer Service Experience Director

Tuesday 23 August 2016

Condor Ferries has announced the appointment of Keith Gait as Customer Service Experience Director.

In the newly created role, Mr Gait will be driving forward improvements to Condor's customer services offering and enhancing the customer experience, from booking through to check-in, onboard travel, and aftercare.

Mr Gait will be responsible for managing Condor's Customer Services and Customer Care teams, overseeing 30 employees based at four of Condor's port locations, including Poole, Portsmouth, Jersey and Guernsey, where he will split his time. Mr Gait will also be travelling on board one of Condor's fleet of four ferries at least once a week to meet customers and gather invaluable feedback and insight.

He brings more than 25 years of customer services experience gained in blue chip companies, including Sainsbury’s, 02 and Marsh. Mr Gait went on to run his own customer services consultancy for over eight years, Orchid Consulting Ltd, before taking up the role of Chief Operating Officer at NHS Direct in 2011. Prior to joining Condor, he held interim operations positions at a number of NHS Trusts across the South East of England - and is well versed in managing large teams and directing customer services strategies. Mr Gait has been a judge for several customer centric awards programmes in recent years, and was voted in the Top 10 most respected people in the industry in 2012.

Commenting on his new appointment, Mr Gait said: “I am delighted to join Condor Ferries as Customer Service Experience Director. I've already spent time travelling on all of our ferries to meet customers and hear about their experiences, and that will continue to be a key part of my role. It's important we listen to our customers to be able to make the necessary improvements required, and I'll be working closely with the wider Condor team to achieve our aims. Customer expectations are higher than ever – rightly so, and it's our job to make sure our passengers have an enjoyable trip, whether it be for business, leisure or as a lifeline service."

Paul Luxon, CEO of Condor Ferries added: “We are pleased to welcome Keith to the Condor Ferries team, bringing with him a wealth of customer centric experience. Improving and developing our customer services offering is a key focus for the business - we have already invested in expanding our existing Customer Services team to meet customer demand, but we recognise there is more to do. Keith's appointment in the newly created Customer Service Experience Director role demonstrates our commitment to providing an enjoyable service, and he has already progressed our improvement plan significantly, putting the customer at the heart of everything we do."