Who will follow in the footsteps of Ellgia Recycling and win the coveted Customer Service of the Year award.

The award, sponsored by Michell Instruments, is open to any business no matter what sector.

It will require entrants to submit five testimonials, but for the full criteria see the list below.

Those who attended the Ely Business Awards networking event on Tuesday (24), will have heard from Steve Crook, MD of last year’s winner of this award, Ellgia Recycling - a full report on the event will appear in next week’s Standard.

Judges, in choosing Ellgia as the 2015 winner, said: Ellgia Recycling demonstrated excellent examples of customer service training, control systems and strategies to ensure future improvement which provides total customer satisfaction. The staff are committed to providing the best service in their industry and are providing it to their competitors.”

Michell Instruments are proud to be sponsoring the Customer Service Award for 2016.

The decision to choose Customer Service as the category to sponsor reflects Michell’s business ethos. “All companies essentially exist because of their customers, so service is an essential part of the mix,” says Michell CEO, Mike Bannister.

“It doesn’t matter if the customer is a family buying a holiday, a school child spending their pocket money – or a multi-national company installing a new facility. A good experience of service is just as important each time.’ And whether the company is large or small, it’s the service that they provide to their customers that will give them the best competitive edge.”

Customer service is core to Michell’s global success as a precision sensing manufacturer. Because of the complex nature of their products, the company needs to focus as much on their service provision as on the products supplied.

“Our sales engineers have to work closely with a customer to ensure that they have just the right analyser or sensor for their process,” explains Mike.

“If a project is very complex, we will often have a team of people working with the client over several months which might involve designing a complete system, or modifying a sensor to make sure the exact requirements are met.”

Most of Michell’s customers buy their products to achieve three outcomes: saving energy, protecting equipment to reduce maintenance costs or ensuring safety, and so the focus on service continues well after the sale is made. Michell operates an in-house calibration laboratory and service department. They also have a team of commissioning engineers who travel the globe to maintain and service systems installed in many exotic (and less exotic) locations: a typical month could involve visits to Bacton (Norfolk) as well as Bahrain and Northern Russia.

Michell Instruments is very much part of the ‘Cambridge phenomenon’ of scientific and engineering companies.

From a humble start-up, in just 40 years, it has grown to become one of the largest high-tech manufacturers in the region, with over 90 per cent of its output exported to Europe, Asia and the Americas.

The company moved to a purpose-built facility in Lancaster Way Business Park, Ely in 2007 to allow for expansion so as to meet the global demand for its products. Research, development and manufacturing for most product lines are all based in the UK.

Recognised as an international leader in high precision sensing, Michell specialises in products to measure trace moisture, relative humidity, oxygen and hydrocarbon dew-point. While the products themselves meet niche requirements, the industries that use them are very diverse ranging from petrochemical, power generation and natural gas through to pharmaceutical, food processing and laboratories.