Our Commitment Charter

We are the UK network for the Creative Industries. Our overarching mission is to leverage the economic, social and cultural value of the UK’s creative economy to build prosperity and bring communities together.

We are proud to be able to do this with a small team based in a number of locations across the UK.

This sets out our commitment and the standards of service we aim to provide. It applies to everyone who has contact with Creative UK, including:

• Members of the public
• Participants in Creative UK Group events
• Potential customers, clients or associates
• Employees of Creative UK Group
• Sponsors and Advertisers of Creative UK Group
• Stakeholders and Partners
• Media, other organisations

Customer Care Statement

We are committed to providing and maintaining a high-quality service that satisfies customer enquiries by providing clear, consistent, accurate and prompt information. To achieve this, we’re introducing this guidance so our employees know within what timescale they are expected to deliver to you and in turn you know what level of service you can expect when making contact with Creative UK.

Our team will respond to all enquiries within reason.  To make this happen we are asking our people to deliver the following key commitments and service standards.

Our Commitment

The Creative UK team is committed to maintaining a professional manner and;

• treating everyone fairly and with respect
• being courteous and helpful
• listening carefully
• providing clear, accurate and knowledgeable information
• responding to enquiries and requests promptly
• being transparent and accountable
• being sensitive to specific needs
• continuously striving to improve or exceed our service standards

Our Response

Our people will:

• Make it personal; we will be warm, helpful and approachable always
• Respond to all letters within 10 working days. If a full response cannot be given within that time a target date will be given for a full response
• Respond to any messages left on our 0333 023 5240 voicemail service promptly, wherever possible within 2 working days
• Where phone calls are more complex, we will politely request to pause the conversation and arrange to call you back once we have the relevant information
• Acknowledge your email within 2 working days, either to answer the query or to inform you when a full response will be given. We will always aim to respond to emails in full within 10 working days
• If one of us is unable to check our emails an out-of-office will be switched on which will include contact details for urgent enquiries and a date for when they will be able to reply
• Aim to respond to all questions received through social media. Comments will be forwarded to relevant colleagues, who will provide a response within 2 working days
• Respect personal dignity and confidentiality and meet the requirements of GDPR, please see our privacy policy
• Ensure that no one who is in contact with Creative UK in any capacity will receive a less favourable response on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation
• Consult with you, listen to your suggestions, comments and complaints and respond positively where appropriate to improve our services
• Share and learn from best practice in order to continually improve the service that we offer you

 You can help us by 

• Respecting our people and other customers, clients or associates when using our services or attending our events
• Providing us with all the information we need to help you
• Informing us of any specific needs or requirements you have in relation to your enquiry or putting forward an enquiry
• Telling us how we can improve our services
• Asking us to explain anything you are not sure of
• Be patient; there may be times when resource is in demand and in order for us to be fair to all of you, we may need to call you back
• Understand that often our partner and investment guidelines and processes sit separately from the above timelines
• We have a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment or racism. Our team will terminate any communication where necessary

Access Support, how we can help you

We value difference and celebrate the creativity that it brings. We treat everyone as individuals and will consider personal circumstances when communicating. We will assist you by making reasonable adjustments so that you can access the opportunity on offer. Reasonable Adjustments may include but are not limited to;

• Providing information in a different format
• Conducting face-to-face meetings via screen-based applications
• Providing extra aids or services

When making adjustments we will consider each individual and their specific circumstances.

How to access support

We keep it simple, let us know about the support that you would value at the time of application or registration for our programmes or opportunities, and we will adapt to ensure your experience with us is a positive one.

Complaints Procedure: General

We are committed to being open and accessible and Creative UK welcomes all comments on its work and the services that it provides. If you have a concern about the services provided to you, please follow the steps set out below. Our complaints procedure is here to help us identify where our services or procedures might be improved.

Making a complaint

Step 1: Resolving informally

The first step is to talk to a member of our staff. This can be done informally, either by arranging a meeting or by telephone. Usually, the appropriate staff member to talk to will be the person who dealt with the matter you are concerned about, as they will be in the best position to help you quickly and to put things right. If they are not available, or you would prefer to approach someone else, then please ask for their line manager. We will try to resolve the problem on the spot if we can. If we can’t do this then we will take a record of your concern and arrange the best way and time for getting back to you.

Step 2: Formally taking your complaint further

Formal complaints should be raised within 3 months of the matter occurring. We hope you will only feel the need to make a formal complaint as a last resort and that you will complain to the person dealing with the matter first to give them a chance to put things right. The first formal step is to put your complaint in writing, by email, to the appropriate staff member (the person who dealt with the matter in step 1). You should head the letter ‘Complaint’. In your email please set out the details, explaining what you think went wrong. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within five working days of receiving it and the letter will say when you may expect a full response. This should normally be within 10 working days unless the matter is of a sensitive/ complex nature.

Step 3: Formally raising with the CEO and Executive team

If you are not satisfied with the response to step 2 you should put your complaint in writing to the CEO. You should head the letter ‘Complaint’. In your letter please set out the details, explaining what you think went wrong and what you feel would put things right. Once the CEO receives a written complaint, she will arrange for it to be fully investigated. A member of the Executive team will acknowledge your complaint on behalf of the CEO in writing within five working days of receiving it and the response will say when you may expect a full response. Response times will depend on the matter. We will keep you informed on what action is being taken and tell you when we foresee a complete response.

All correspondence for the CEO should be sent to Executive Assistant to the CEO, sally.okeefe@wearecreative.uk or our Director of People & Operations caroline.hinds@wearecreative.uk