It's great to see an organisation like the MMO take things like customer service seriously - although I dare say there may be a handful of fishermen who might find the following exercise in assessing customer relations a tad #ironic and be moved to use the terms 'MMO' and 'customer relations' as the defining example of an oxymoron. Comments on this website and others often cite the MMO as having an inherent lack of in-depth industry knowledge within the organisation - it would be good to see more young people from fishing communities choosing degree level career paths that see them working for shore based organisations like the MMO and MSC - as is often the case in countries like France, Spain, Norway and Holland.
As part of national Customer Service Week John Gargett, Customer Manager at the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), discusses how customer and stakeholder feedback informs the MMO’s decisions and actions.
We engage with our customers in a number of ways and are always keen to hear people’s views on the way we work.
Our Stakeholder Focus Group brings together key social, economic and environmental bodies, which between them bring in over £14 billion to the UK economy each year. The group meets approximately four times a year and provides us with a unique opportunity to sense check our policies and thinking with key stakeholders in the marine environment.
Members of the group include representatives of many sectors – other Government bodies/organisations, the fishing industry, aggregates, ports, renewables, energy, shipping, yachting, conservation and wildlife groups. Matters they have fed into include our Corporate Plan objectives, marine planning engagement and consultation, marine licensing fast track and exemptions, and the revised fees and charges.
The collective experience and knowledge the group brings and the range of views offered give us an excellent insight into what is important to the people we serve and regulate, preventing many problems before they occur and giving stakeholders real input into our work.
We also learn a great deal by analysing the root causes of enquiries and complaints we receive and matters of interest to customers through general enquiries. In addition engagement that takes place day to day in person at our coastal offices and through other channels at our central offices, including social media, gives us detailed feedback to shape our operations.
This is supported by our Customer Insight Groups representing fisheries, European funding and marine licensing where customer service matters are discussed directly with myself. Engagement events such as marine planning drop-in sessions and our quota roadshows also provide excellent insight on specific areas and activities.
However these are by no means the only channels by which you can engage with the MMO. If there is anything you want to discuss with me please email me (john.gargett@marinemanagement.org.uk), tweet us (@The_MMO) or post on our Facebook page.