Timpson has scored the highest for customer satisfaction among companies in the UK, as nearly half of sectors saw a decline in satisfaction this year.
The company, known for shoe and watch repairs, key cutting, dry cleaning, and photo processing, rose from 13th place last year. The UKCSI noted in its report that Timpson’s turnover had increased from £297.5 million to £332.2 million for the year ending Sept. 30, 2023, a result which the company said “far exceeded” its expectations.
“Timpsons also highlights the benefit of its distinctive recruitment model: 12% of its current workforce joined it from prison and many have gone on to work in senior roles,” the report said.
The ICS surveyed more than 15,000 adult consumers, with the latest results finding a general downturn in customer satisfaction levels. The index stands at 75.8 out of 100, a drop of 0.8 points on last year and at its lowest in more than a decade. Six of the 13 UKCSI sectors have fallen by at least one point compared to July 2023.
Jo Causon, chief executive of the ICS, said in the report’s forward: “The latest UKCSI results show a further decline in average customer satisfaction in most sectors.
Offering Prison Leavers Employment
Timpson has hired hundreds of former prisoners, with the group’s Timpson Foundation focusing on “rehabilitating prison leavers by offering supported employment.”The company said it is “one of the largest employers of ex-offenders in the UK,” sharing success stories including of those of “Matt,” who former chief executive James Timpson met while visiting a local prison in 2002.
Matt was offered a job on release and “has gone on to become one of our most successful branch managers,” the company said.
Timpson Appointed Minister
Mr. Timpson is set to be made a peer after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer appointed him to the role of minister for prisons, parole, and probation in the Ministry of Justice on July 5 following Labour’s election victory. He has resigned as CEO of Timpson following his government appointment, according to a statement published on Tuesday by his father and company owner, Sir John Timpson.Sir Keir said on July 6 that it was “impossible” to say if his government can stop the early release of prisoners.
“We will fix that, but we can’t fix it overnight and therefore it is impossible to simply say we will stop the early release of prisoners and you wouldn’t believe me if I did say it,” he said.
Speaking earlier this year to Channel 4, Mr. Timpson said that the UK was “addicted to punishment,” and that “so many of the people who are in prison in my view shouldn’t be there.”
Asked if he agreed with Mr. Timpson’s remarks, Sir Keir reflected on his time as director of public prosecutions “and watched people processed through the system on an escalator to go into prison.”
“And I’ve often reflected that many of them could have been taken out of that system earlier if they’d had support, and that is why what we want to do with our youth hubs and on knife crime is really, really important, because I want to reduce crime.”
The prime minister added that if young people were offered support at a “point of intervention,” it could ensure some of them “do not get on that escalator” to incarceration.
