Providing a consistent and outstanding customer experience should be at the heart of everything a consumer-facing business does and Merkur UK has appointed the first executive dedicated to delivering it.

Merkur UK has confirmed the appointment of experienced hospitality professional Lola Wood to the newly created post of Customer Experience Manager. In a successful career Lola has gained a breadth of experience working for organisations including Whitbread, the holiday operator Tui and airport hospitality brand, No 1 Lounges.

Mark Schertle, Chief Operating Officer at Merkur UK, believes this represents a landmark appointment for both the brand and for the industry.  He explained: “As far as we are aware Lola is making history by becoming the first Customer Experience Manager in the low stake low prize sector of the UK industry. The purpose of attending an Adult Gaming Centre is to play the very latest low stake low prize gaming machines but the reason why they will choose one brand over another is down to the quality of the experience.

“Our challenge is to ensure the experience that we deliver is both consistent and of the very highest quality. As professional retailers we always want to be on the front foot and the Customer Experience role will enable us to pre-empt any issues and ensure that we are delivering on our social responsibility undertakings deployed via the 360 safe gambling programme and the Merkur Initiative community support plan.”

 Expanding on the role, Lola Wood said: “First of all I’m extremely excited to be able to apply my experience and insight to a highly dynamic sector and I can’t wait for the venues to open in May.” Explaining the difference between Customer Experience and Customer Service she said: “Customer Experience is about a philosophy which should be at the heart of how a brand behaves whereas Customer Service is more of a function. Customer Experience is all encompassing and involves contributions made by every component part of the business and excellent external partner/stakeholder relationships, underpinned by a clear strategy and a shared set of goals. High Street gaming is a highly competitive sector and delivering a positive Customer Experience in which consumers have fun with their friends and play both safely and responsibly are key in helping to differentiate the brand and building the player-base.”