Introduction
Marston Holdings is one of the industry’s leading providers of back-office processing services, operating across multiple UK based contact centre sites.
Our team comprises over 450 customer advisors across five Customer Contact Centres, providing comprehensive back-office and resilience services to more than 20 local authorities. Annually, we manage over one million calls, review over one million CCTV clips, and handle over 700,000 correspondence cases, showcasing our commitment to efficient and reliable service.
The challenge
The London Borough of Croydon had been processing their parking-related back-office services through their in-house team.
The recent implementation of a safe neighbourhood area in the borough led to a significant increase in case volumes. The primary goal of the scheme was to promote changes in driver behaviour and create a safer and cleaner environment for the residents.
Due to the introduction of the scheme, it became apparent to the Council’s management team that the in-house team needed help to meet the increased demand of the volumes of back-office services required, including correspondence handling and CCTV clip reviews. This resulted in a backlog of cases building up, loss of revenue, and regulatory timescales not being met.
As the Council planned to introduce more CCTV camera enforcement schemes across the borough to enhance road safety, they acknowledged that this would inevitably lead to an increase in cases, putting additional pressure on the in-house team
With budgets remaining tight and recruitment becoming increasingly challenging, Croydon looked for outside support to help them clear their backlog and get the team back on track.
The solution
Having collaborated with Marston in the past, the Croydon team recognised Marston’s experienced staff’s ability to efficiently address case backlogs. This positioned us as an effective partner in swiftly resolving cases, enabling their qualified in-house team to regain control of services again once case volumes had dropped.
Utilising Marston’s operational scale, they adjusted resources to meet fluctuating demands. Croydon and Marston worked in partnership to identify case allocations, clarifying responsibilities and streamlining workflows.
Marston’s support cleared the backlog quickly, but case volumes remained high, so they continued to support the Council to meet demands and provide a long-term resilience service.
When volumes decrease Marston can flex the resource, they dedicate to Croydon but when volumes rise again they can infuse additional resource at short notice to avoid any back logs building up.
The impact
- Marston was able to clear 5,000 cases ensuring they did not expire.
- Marston now supports the Croydon team by processing 1,000 cases per month to meet demand.
By working together in a true partnership, Croydon and Marston have successfully reduced the backlog of notice processing, protecting revenues, maintaining safer cleaner streets and protecting the council’s reputation.
Through collaborating as one team to meet peaks and troughs in demand has proven to beneficial to the overall Croydon Parking Services strategy.
“Marston provide a valuable service in supporting our In-House back-office administration team. They have a skilled team available to support our operation and they operate in unison with the existing team seamlessly and efficiently.”
Jayne Rusbatch
Head of Highways and Parking
London Borough of Croydon
