The Prospect Shopping Centre team is encouraging other retailers to follow in its footsteps after it received training in the same accreditations used by tens of thousands of volunteers for the London Olympics and Paralympics.

All of the customer service team completed WorldHost training as part of its commitments to provide the best in customer service. The customer service team at the centre is now encouraging other businesses in the city centre to become WorldHost-accredited in the run up to the City of Culture year as the accreditation makes Prospect Shopping Centre the first shopping centre in the city to be WorldHost-approved.

Centre manager Lee Appleton said: “This accreditation is an important one for us as it demonstrates our commitment to providing the highest levels of customer service and prepares our team to provide those levels when we welcome tourists visiting Hull for the City of Culture celebrations.

“Customer service has always been a fundamental aspect in everything we do, so the fact the team has now been WorldHost-approved is very important to us.

“We want to look after our customers from the area and attract people from outside the city to come to Hull, so this accreditation shows customers we will give them a welcoming and pleasant atmosphere every time they shop here.

 “We want other retailers to follow in our path and gain this accreditation, so everyone is able to provide a world-class service to people visiting our city for the next seven years during City of Culture.”

The WorldHost training programme has been used across the world in countries such as the US and Canada and has been endorsed by Visit England, as the organisation looks to build the nation’s reputation as one of the most welcoming tourist destinations in the world.

All 19 of the customer service team took part in the initial wave of training sessions, with retailers given the option to be WorldHost-trained in the next few months. The Prospect Shopping Centre has also been presented with a plaque in order to show its achievements to customers.

Mr Appleton said: “Our customer service team was very willing to add this accolade to their list of achievements and now they are ready to lead the way in the city for providing the highest customer service levels.

“The centre will continue to ensure it achieves the highest levels of customer service and we have extended the invitation for our retailers to attend future WorldHost training sessions.

“We will continue to work with our retailers to ensure the shopping centre is setting the standard for service and this accreditation is one of the ways we are achieving that.”

Prospect Shopping Centre website: www.prospectshoppingcentre.co.uk