PwC has identified the importance of an excellent Front of House, and hired Ben Noah to turn their concept of ‘PwC Welcome’ into reality, transferring best practice initiatives from the hospitality industry into the corporate world.

FOH caught up with an extremely busy Ben Noah…

So come on Ben – how does a receptionist end up becoming a manager in a blue chip company?

“I was born in London in 1976. After my GCSEs I opted out of A-Levels, preferring to do a diploma in hotel management at WestminsterCollege.

“Whilst studying, I worked in several positions within Food and Beverage. On completion of my studies I began work with the Hilton at the Hilton Mews as a trainee receptionist. After 18 months I moved to a small boutique hotel where I worked my way up through Front Office, eventually becoming Front of House Manager by the age of 21. I know this is quite young, and obviously I appreciate the early chances I was given to move into supervisory roles.”

Ben went on to travel the world with Hilton. He began in Australia - Sydney - followed by New Zealand, back to the UK and on to St Lucia in the Caribbean. By the age of 28, he had worked his way up to become the manager at the Hilton Mews Hotel, which by chance - happened to be where he’d begun his training 12 years earlier.

Marriage meant a change of life for Ben: he’d spent a great deal of time in hospitality and now needed to find a new direction. “I am now enjoying the fresh challenges of a different industry, where I can use all the transferable skills which I have picked up along the way”

We think Front of House is important (but you could think owning a mag called FOH kind of makes us look biased!?) So how important to any business do you consider the Front of House to be?

“Throughout my career I have always viewed FOH as the brain behind the business. It deals with an abundance of information and needs to be able to direct it appropriately.”

What is ‘PwC Welcome’?

PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) is the UK’s leading professional services firm, employing about 15,000 partners and staff in offices around the UK, as well as having a global network of firms.

“Reception areas for all the buildings are being re-branded as ‘Welcome’. This move has meant re-training staff, as well as making physical changes, such as improved signage and the re-styling of the front of house services to include a ‘service solutions’ desk, where possible. It’s called the PwC Welcome Triangle, the three points being ‘arrival’, ‘welcome’ and ‘service solutions’.

“Where premises are in the process of refurbishment, the opportunity has been taken to create a layout which supports the PwC Welcome “triangle”. PwC had made a conscious effort to invest in our client areas and significant improvements have been made in terms of the facilities we offer. Several office refurbishments have taken or are taking place since the launch of PwC Welcome. These include: Birmingham, Uxbridge, Reading, St Albans and Embankment Place Service Solutions.

“Our Welcome team logo at PwC is ‘Welcome - Connecting people’, and I feel that this really sums up the role of reception.”

What response have you had from staff taking part in the scheme and training associated with it?

“The response from partners and staff has been extremely positive. The traditional Front of House team have been re-branded as the Welcome team and the staff appear to be extremely encouraged and motivated by the training and investment, in which we are taking a lot of best practice principals from the hospitality industry and transferring these to the corporate environment. Thus, being cutting edge and innovative in terms of customer service.”

What additional skills have staff been able to pick up since being part of the scheme and how has this helped them in their roles and providing good customer service?

“In London specifically we have made the positions of Reception, Meeting Room Co-ordinator and Service Desk Administrator multi-skilled under the umbrella of the Welcome host title. All team members have the ability to cover desks in other offices and other areas aside from their normal area of work. This enables them to provide a seamless service.”

What training have staff received and which staff were involved in this training?

“I have been working with a fabulous trainer and together we have written some bespoke courses around some of the following topics:
Service Excellence
Attitude
Body Language
World class Welcome
Team Work
Communication
Influencing skills
Leadership
Train the Trainer

“All of these courses help sew the foundations of a five star service environment.

“We are also encouraging cross-training between offices and desks in order to gain a better understanding of the Welcome role in general.”

What do you think is the future of the Welcome Scheme and service desks and what additional services would you like to see the staff provide? i.e multi tasking to make their jobs more interesting etc.

“In the long term I would like to see walking into our offices comparable to walking into your favourite hotel and receiving a truly five star service experience across all Operational areas. The future of PwC Welcome would probably be having one stop service solutions desks in all major offices. A butler call system in all our meeting rooms for instantaneous service and a telephone help desk which really could help with everything from a catering request to a light bulb needing changing. In addition, I would like to think that all visitors’ expectations are exceeded when visiting our buildings.”

THANK YOU BEN FOR GIVING US YOUR TIME - FOH

If you would like to know more about working as a receptionist for PricewaterhouseCoopers or any other blue chip company, then please email info@fohmagazine.co.uk