As a Founding Director at Next Generation Travel, I am incredibly proud that our latest Customer Service Excellence review has once again recognised the commitment, care and professionalism shown by colleagues across our business.
The independent assessment confirmed that we continue to meet the requirements of the Customer Service Excellence Standard across all five criteria: customer insight, organisational culture, information and access, delivery, and timeliness and quality of service. I was particularly pleased to see the review highlight the consistently strong level of Compliance Plus evidence demonstrated across the whole business.
Customer Service Excellence is a nationally recognised quality mark for organisations that have a genuinely customer-focused culture and use insight, feedback and continuous improvement to strengthen the service they provide. For us, this latest review reinforces an approach we have built over many years: doing the right thing for schools, teachers, students and our own internal teams. That’s why over 72% of customers rebook with us each year.
One of the strongest messages from the assessor was the strength of our culture. Our colleagues are trusted and empowered to make decisions that support customers and create positive outcomes. The feedback gathered from across the business showed teams who are passionate, knowledgeable and motivated, with customer service embedded from recruitment and induction through to training, performance management and everyday decision making.
“The business has never felt more together – it’s one team. The language, the energy, and the passion to get it right is clear and abundant across every brand. Even your customers could have been reading from the same script – they were all aligned in what being a customer of NGT felt like!” Andrew Mackey CSE
I was also encouraged by the recognition given to the way we continue to develop customer insight. We listen to feedback from teachers, parents, students, guides and internal teams, and we use that insight to improve our services, shape our communications and strengthen the way each brand supports schools. Independent reviews through Feefo of 4.9/5 Exceptional, customer satisfaction measures and Net Promoter Score results of 78.5 were all referenced as evidence of our continued progress, with the 2026 review noting improved CDQ scores and NPS in parts of the business and consistently high performance elsewhere.
A key theme of the assessment was the way we listen and respond. The review recognised improvements to our customer communications, more personalised communications using our CRM system, better use of tour videos and digital content to showcase our tours, and our renewed focus on making information clear, accessible and timely. It also acknowledged the value of our strong relationships with suppliers and partners, while recognising that we remain clear about our responsibility to support customers whenever issues arise.
The report praised our customer first culture, including weekly recognition, sharing of good practice, visible senior leadership, stronger cross brand collaboration and a growing focus on internal customers. It also recognised practical improvements we have made, including values-led recruitment, new performance frameworks, enhanced training and development, and our planned use of the Zoho Learn tool to support consistent customer service learning.
Most importantly, the assessment found that customers continue to value the professionalism, care and responsiveness of our teams. I was especially proud to see examples of colleagues going above and beyond, including waiving a pupil’s costs due to family circumstances so that she would not miss out on a trip, and taking ownership of supplier disruption in a way that gave the customer such confidence they went on to book further trips with us.
Alongside excellent customer feedback, we continue to receive external recognition. The report references our ongoing awards and recognition, our Feefo Gold Trusted Service rating, and the overall strength of Next Generation Travel’s reputation, including our unbeatable 6 x winner of the Best School Tour Operator award at the STO Travel Awards.
For me, this result reflects the efforts of colleagues across the group and the trust placed in us by schools, teachers and customers. As we prepare for the next year, our focus remains clear: to keep listening carefully, improving continuously and delivering educational travel experiences with care, confidence and consistency.
If you’re interested in taking your students on an educational trip, contact us today to request a quote.