FIRST ENTERPRISE BUSINESS AGENCY &
ENTERPRISE LOANS EAST MIDLANDS
Client & Customer Charter and minimum standards
First Enterprise Business Agency (FEBA) and Enterprise Loans East Midlands trading as Small Loans for Business (ELEM) are
committed to delivering a consistent, responsive and high quality business support programme that encourages start up and existing
small/micro businesses, with a specialism for ethnic minorities to survive, develop and then grow.
Within this Charter, we define our service users as “Clients” and the organisations who fund our client-related services as
“Customers”. This Policy & Procedure refers to both definitions, drawing distinctions between them where necessary.
As an organisation, we will:
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be friendly, approachable, professional, and honest and open in dealing with you, giving you information about our services.
deliver services in a way that gives good value for money.
constantly improve our services and facilities.
talk to customers about our services and use your views to make improvements.
treat everyone fairly and with respect and we will be polite and helpful when you contact us.
put matters right as speedily as possible if we get something wrong.
work with others to give you a good service.
respond quickly and efficiently to requests.
correct things promptly when they go wrong, and learn from complaints.
SERVICE DELIVERY COMMITMENTS
We will:
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fully and accurately identify the needs and expectations of clients and customers in relation to the services that we supply.
resolve and agree with the client or customer any ambiguity or uncertainty that relates to the expressed needs and expectations.
ensure that we have the processes, resources, competences, skills and knowledge to satisfy those needs and expectations.
refer clients to other specialists for any appropriate action that is not within the scope of our remit.
meet the needs and expectations in a manner that also delivers a high level of client and customer satisfaction, which we will
periodically evaluate and – if necessary – seek to improve.
agree clearly what we will do and what you will do.
periodically review that we are achieving what we said we would achieve.
OUR STANDARDS
VISITORS
Our aim is to provide a polite and welcoming service. The reception area will be clean and comfortable, well signposted with relevant
displays of leaflets and other information about the range of our work.
We run an appointment system. It may be possible to see an adviser with no pre arranged appointment but the policy is to see
visitors by appointment. The following notes explain our commitments further:
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Our office opening hours are 9.00am - 5.00pm Monday - Friday, excluding Bank Holidays.
All visitors with appointments will be seen at the appointed time. Where this is impossible because of exceptional circumstances,
an explanation will be given and amended arrangements agreed. We take action to ensure the health & safety of all visitors to our
office and visitors are expected to comply with the health and safety arrangements made.
If practical we will endeavour to see any visitors without appointments. If it is not possible to see them immediately, we will
arrange an appointment at a mutually convenient time.
All our staff will be trained in their areas of specialism and in customer care. They will handle enquiries courteously and
efficiently.
FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION
Our staff will be knowledgeable, helpful and responsive. Where questions are raised which are outside the remit of the person
concerned they will secure a relevant response within an agreed timescale.
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TELEPHONE
Our telephones will be covered during office hours, including lunch times. Where, in very exceptional or unforeseen circumstances,
such cover cannot be provided, an answering machine will be made available and any messages left will receive a reply from us as soon
as possible.
Our aim is to answer calls on the switchboard within 5 rings (unless we are on another call), otherwise you will be connected to
voicemail. If your call needs a response and this is not possible immediately, your details will be taken and we will contact you with
the information as quickly as possible, but you will be kept fully informed of the situation.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
All external written communication, including letters and e-mails, will be acknowledged within 5 working days. If the subject matter
requires a more detailed response, we will explain the reason for the delay. There will be a named person and telephone number as a
contact in the response.
WEBSITES
We will check and update our websites on a weekly basis to ensure that they contain relevant and up to date information.
RESPONDING TO COMPLAINTS
This Policy & Procedure makes clear our commitments in respect of Client and Customer satisfaction whilst at the same time:
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describing the method by which Clients and Customers can make both their concerns and formal complaints known to us.
stating how we will handle those concerns to seek a resolution acceptable to you.
Should you need to raise a complaint, you can advise us about it in the following ways, by:
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phoning us on: 0115 942 3772 (FEBA) or 0845 602 7355 (ELEM)
e-mailing us on reception@first-enterprise.co.uk
writing to us at 90 Radford Road, Nottingham, NG7 5FU
If you are a Client and you are unable to resolve the issue involved directly with one of our staff you may:
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contact the Chief Executive or Loan Fund Manager who will record your concern or complaint, arrange for investigation and
report back to you, advising any action needed
obtain a Concern & Complaint Reporting Form, complete the shaded boxes and return it to us OR
if required, take up loan-related complaints through the Financial Ombudsman Service. Information will be provided by us.
If the Chief Executive or Loan Fund Manager do not agree that the matter you raise is valid, they will say so and explain why not. If you do
not feel able to accept their explanation, you may ask to take the matter to our board of directors, whose details can be obtained from us.
If, on the other hand, they accept your concern or complaint as being at first sight valid, they will arrange an investigation and report back
to you within 5 working days of us receiving your complaint and if needed, a proposed solution and timescales for achieving it. This
would normally be within a further 5 working days. However, whilst we cannot always control the speed of investigation and solution if
third parties are then involved, we will stress the urgency of an early solution to them.
If you do not feel able to accept the outcome of the investigation and / or solution, you may then ask which organisation is funding our
services to you and contact them direct as an appeal, explaining that you have been unable to resolve the issue locally.
If you are a Customer, please ask directly for the Chief Executive or Loan Fund Manager since contractual implications may be involved.
The same Concern & Complaint Reporting Form will need to be used and a formal response will be issued, including any time-scaled
solutions proposed.
YOUR COMMENTS
We welcome and would like to know when we 'get it right' so that this standard can be maintained. Any suggestions you have on how we
can improve our services can be made using the media mentioned above.
OUR EXPECTATION OF CLIENTS
We run an appointment system. Whilst it may be possible to see an adviser with no pre arranged appointment, our policy is to see clients by
appointment. Clients should attend at the allotted time. If unable to attend clients should advise the agency as soon as possible.
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Clients should work alongside their adviser to complete the agreed tasks in the allotted time.
We may not be able to offer total solutions and clients will be referred to other specialist avenues of support as necessary.
We reserve the right not to continue to support clients who miss appointments on a regular basis.
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