WCF Fuels North West have prevailed at Lancashire Business View’s Red Rose Awards, winning the prestigious Customer Service business of the year award 2023.     

 The Red Rose Awards are held in Blackpool every year and play out in front of an audience of more than 1,000 business professionals. This year’s 2023 event saw the awards celebrated for the thirteenth time! 

Businesses from the length and breadth of the county vied for titles across a range of categories, with only the best of the best, as selected by a panel of expert judges, progressing through to the shortlist and a rigorous interview stage before being rewarded for their excellence. 

Gemma Hogg – General Manager said: “A huge thank you to the event organisers it was a fantastic event from start to finish. It’s an honour to win such a prestigious award, the award is very important to us as we put our customers at the heart of everything we do. My team have worked incredibly hard to achieve this and I could not be more proud of them.  To win a Customer Service award especially during the last year and the unprecedented movements in fuel prices it makes us even more proud! It was our first time at the ceremony and for entering the awards and it was clear to recognise that it does provide the best possible platform to promote success and encourage inter-trading across the country. We will certainly be back!’

The Judges were overwhelmed with the passion and commitment shown in the interviews and are looking forward to seeing what the future holds for WCF Fuels North West. They said ‘“Raw passion underpins this business with an ingrained desire to service everyday customers with everyday needs, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable customers The introduction of a cold weather scheme and customer loyalty scheme are stand-out customer service initiatives.”     

WCF Fuels North West is an employee-owned business based in Carnforth which currently employees 28 staff including Drivers, Sales Team, Account Control and a Transport Department. A heating oil company with competitive fuel prices Preston. When a customer calls WCF Fuels North West they are straight through to a friendly person who can help from general advice to placing an order. They pride themselves on not being a Call Centre, with multiple options and long wait times. It’s their amazing people along with their wonderful customers that make achievements like this happen. 

Regular emails and information are sent out to their customers keeping them fully up to date with recent government changes to the effects the economy is having on the fuel industry.  2023 saw the launch of their customer Rewards Club where they will be rewarding their customers from concert tickets, nights away and discounts on fuels and monitors. WCF Fuels North West also has a small office at J36 Auction Mart that provides a base for local farmers and customers alike to pop in and have a chat to a friendly member of staff.   As well as an office base in Carnforth and Kendal, WCF Fuels also attends as many events as possible, last week saw them sponsoring Bentham Auction Marts Spring Sale.  

With the summer shows drawing near, WCF Fuels North West will be attending several Agricultural shows, taking their special baby tanker where possible which provides a necessary service for those hard to reach areas where other suppliers may struggle. In addition, they also operate a small tanker covering the Lake District area as it is equipped to fit down narrow lanes and tight spaces. Including supplying heating oil additives. 

But it doesn’t just end there for this award-winning team. Danny, an apprentice here at WCF has also been shortlisted for Lancashire’s Apprentice of the year, along with the team entering the UKIFDA (UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association) awards. 

Red Rose event founder Richard Slater, also the publisher of Lancashire Business View magazine, said: “The Red Rose Awards, now in its thirteenth year, are very hotly contested, so WCF Fuels North West should be very proud that they have seen off all the competition to win this award!”   As award winners, WCF Fuels North West collected a trophy specially crafted by trophy partner Pendle Engineering. Presenter Graham Liver compered the evening, with entertainment from Hot Piece of Brass, Harrisons, MH Productions and The Fun Experts.   Headline sponsors for the event were Forbes Solicitors and Barclays. The official judging partner of the awards is Lancaster University and validation partner is RSM.