Pencil Museum team celebrate Visit Britain Award!

The team at the Cumberland Pencil Museum are delighted to have received a Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Award from Visit Britain. Commenting on the Award Alex Farthing, the Museum Manager said ‘I am delighted for the team that we have received this Award as it recognises all their hard work constantly improving the visitor experience and ensuring we offer outstanding Customer Service at all times. The team always go that extra mile for our customers and this is reflected in some of the lovely comments we have received in our Visitors Book and on our feedback forms. Also, this year we have further enhanced the visitor experience with the addition of an interactive video in our WW2 exhibition and a dressing up area for children which all help to bring our stories to life’. The Pencil Museum was only awarded the Quality Rose marquee after it had been rigorously mystery shopped by one of Visit Britain’s independent assessors. Arriving unannounced he took a tour of the museum, the shop and the coffee shop experiencing all the museum had to offer, from the customer’s point of view, before making himself known to the team. He then discussed his findings with them offering suggestions for areas that could be improved. While there is no official grading system the assessor commented that he found the facilities, customer experience & service at the museum to be excellent.

The team at the Cumberland Pencil Museum are delighted to have received a Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Award from Visit Britain. Commenting on the Award Alex Farthing, the Museum Manager said ‘I am delighted for the team that we have received this Award as it recognises all their hard work constantly improving the visitor experience and ensuring we offer outstanding Customer Service at all times. The team always go that extra mile for our customers and this is reflected in some of the lovely comments we have received in our Visitors Book and on our feedback forms. Also, this year we have further enhanced the visitor experience with the addition of an interactive video in our WW2 exhibition and a dressing up area for children which all help to bring our stories to life’.
The Pencil Museum was only awarded the Quality Rose marquee after it had been rigorously mystery shopped by one of Visit Britain’s independent assessors. Arriving unannounced he took a tour of the museum, the shop and the coffee shop experiencing all the museum had to offer, from the customer’s point of view, before making himself known to the team. He then discussed his findings with them offering suggestions for areas that could be improved. While there is no official grading system the assessor commented that he found the facilities, customer experience & service at the museum to be excellent.

The Visit Britain Quality Assurance Award is a mark of real quality and means visitors to the museum can be assured of enjoying a quality experience. It recognizes all the improvements the manager Alex Farthing & her team have made in the last few years; from opening the popular Sketchers coffee shop to employing 6 more team members bringing the number up to 12 full time staff, all highly trained and with in-depth product knowledge. The museum has also developed a range of weekly art workshops, demonstrations & family fun days which have proved popular with tourists and local families.

‘Everyone at the museum is really looking forward to 2013’, says Alex ‘we have exciting plans to further expand the attractions throughout the museum, with a new exhibition tracing the history of graphite and why the museum is located in Keswick, special trips to the original Borrowdale graphite mine, and even more family friendly art and craft events. So visitors and the Visit Britain assessor can be assured of an even better experience when they visit next year!’

During the half term holidays there are FREE children’s demonstrations and events where they can learn cartooning & book illustration and to celebrate Halloween there is a spooky Wizards party! The events run each Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 10am-4pm

For more information about the Pencil Museum and its half term events visit www.pencilmusuem.co.uk or follow them on facebook and Twitter