Celebrating 1 million calls: The Help Desk’s golden ticket and golden years

Last week was all about our special Golden Ticket Event, celebrating 1 million calls to our Help Desk. To celebrate this million milestone, we hid Golden Tickets in chocolate bars for our employees to find, in Nottingham, Northampton, London and Stanton Harcourt. It was a tasty treat for all, and our lucky winners received a special Golden Ticket prize. Vue Cinemas Westfield, who made call 1 million, were also rewarded with some champagne for their contribution to the milestone.

However, there’s more to this event than first meets the eye. It’s not about the chocolate, the prizes, or even Willy Wonka…

We wanted to thank and recognise each member of our team, the people who make the great relationships with our customers possible, and power customer engagement with big international brands 24×7. The Help Desk is really at the centre of our operations, allowing us to provide retail IT support internationally in multiple languages, work with customers across the globe, and provide critical support at all hours.

You might not know that when the Help Desk came into being, in 1999, the two original team members that manned the desk and took that very first call, are still working for Retail Assist today.

And when the team expanded after Retail Assist’s first retail contract was made with Adams (a childrenswear retailer), and the numbers went from 2 to 6 analysts, these members are also still here. They’ve worked with numerous customers, and changed offices twice, from Cabourn House in Bingham, to East Street in Bingham, to Friar Lane in Nottingham, where they still work today.

This isn’t just nostalgia: it really speaks volumes for the development the Help Desk has experienced, and the talent and dedication these people have given back to the business.

The original members of the Help Desk now work in Store Systems, Store Development, have taken up positions as Project Managers, and even in Sales.

And the pattern has continued, as this video below demonstrates. Our Store Development Analyst, Jahmel, also started out as a young rookie on the Help Desk.

Retail Assist values our people as our best asset, and The Help Desk is the talent pool of our company. From 2 members in 1999, we now have over 50 analysts taking around 600 calls a day, communicating in 7 international languages, and supporting over 5000 stores (over 200 of which are international).

So, to our employees old and new, a big RA ‘thank you’, and we hope you’ve enjoyed our first 1 million milestone!