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Fairbairn Private Bank wins National Training award

15 December 2006

FAIRBAIRN PRIVATE BANK WINS NATIONAL TRAINING AWARD

Fairbairn Private Bank has won a prestigious National Training Award, the highest level of award in the UK, for showing exceptional achievement through training and people development.  There were only 50 awards granted across the entire UK covering all businesses, training organisations and individuals who have achieved excellence and success.  Fairbairn Private Bank was both the only British Offshore Island company and also the only bank to receive an accolade.

The award, presented by world athletics record holder Colin Jackson at The Lancaster Hotel in London, is in recognition of a five-year training initiative that has positively transformed the bank’s Customer Service Centre.

Introduced in 1999, the training within the Customer Service Centre (CSC) was designed to support the bank’s principal aim: “To serve our clients better than any other financial services organisation”.  The programme of change involved CSC staff being trained in new approaches, procedures, products and services.  The bank invested in the extensive training of 15 specially selected staff, using a mixture of senior staff and external trainers to deliver courses.

The training has enabled the bank to exceed targets for reducing justified complaints, financial errors and account closures. Dramatic reductions have been seen across all these areas and new accounts are being opened at a rate almost twice the rate seen in 1999.  It has also enabled new standards of service to be introduced:  98 per cent of calls are now answered within three rings, a client survey shows 98 per cent of respondents are now more than satisfied with the standard of service, and 99 per cent are more than satisfied with the speed of answering telephones.  Client referrals now account for over 80 per cent of business introductions and new accounts outnumber closures four to one.

Greg Horton, Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to receive such a prestigious national award for our commitment to training and personal development. We set out to transform our CSC into a centre of excellence and by developing a highly bespoke training programme, we have been able to set exceptionally high standards of service. These in turn have served to influence other business areas within the organisation, promoting the adage of our customer always comes first.”

The CSC is seen as a critical part of the overall success following the bank’s restructuring, and helped the bank achieve a first for the industry – winning the Best Commitment to Service award at this year’s International Investment International Fund and Product Awards.  In fact, the bank has amassed more awards than any other offshore bank – 11 wins and 12 highly commended – in these major industry awards. It also achieved a listing in The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For in 2005, the first time a bank had ever obtained this accolade, and was also one of only 20 companies to rise up the ranking on this year’s list.

Ends

For Further Information:

Janet Taylor or Lesley Allegro                                               Tel: 645000

Issued By:

Lisa Creighton, Isle of Man Advertising & PR Ltd                  Tel: 620440

Notes to Editor:

Fairbairn Private Bank operates a comprehensive private and personal banking operation on behalf of a wide range of clients. These include private individuals, small and large companies, trusts, governments and institutional investors. A full range of banking, investment, trust and corporate services can be accessed through its offices in the Isle of Man, Jersey and its representative office in South Africa.

When referring to Fairbairn Private Bank – please ensure that the company name is printed in full and not abbreviated.