Sheffield International Venues (SIV) is celebrating after winning a prestigious business award.

The leading leisure operator has been recognised in the Excellence in Customer Service category at the 2009 Sheffield Business Awards, organised by the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce.

The award recognises an organisation within the Sheffield city region demonstrating outstanding levels of customer service and satisfaction in all aspects of sales and after care services.

Steve Brailey, chief executive of SIV, said: “We are thrilled to have won such a prestigious award. It really is testament to the hard work and dedication of the whole team at SIV.

“SIV prides itself on exceptional levels of customer service and satisfaction. The company invests in the highest quality of staff, through enrolment onto courses and achievement of national qualifications.

“This means our staff have the skills to identify customer expectations and how to exceed them.”

In house Service Excellence and Service Magic courses are given to new SIV employees and they are encouraged to sign up for NVQ courses focusing on corporate standards, service delivery and exceeding customer expectations. Employees are offered support and the time required to successfully complete the NVQ qualification.

SIV also regularly works with external accreditation bodies to assess its customer service. A recent assessment by quality assurance body, QUEST, listed SIV as the only leisure services provider to operate three ‘excellent’ registered facilities in the UK under the QUEST scheme.

Despite the recession, the company’s performance in the last 12 months has exceeded all expectations. The announcement of record sales figures of £24m demonstrated a substantial 10 per cent rise on the previous year.

SIV supports Sheffield’s reputation and recognition as a great city to live and work, offering an improved quality of life for local people by providing excellent customer services through both its health and fitness staff and conferencing and events team.

Steve added: “We committed to delivering better value for money and better customer experience, which results in an impressive customer retention rate and exceptional customer loyalty. I am extremely proud of our achievements over the last year and, as a company, we are thriving.”

The leisure operator was also shortlisted for the Excellence in Sports Services award.

The awards, which attracted 1,000 guests, were held at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, which is operated by Sheffield International Venues.