‘Warwickshire Direct’ in Rugby
A new ‘Warwickshire Direct’ reception facility was officially launched at Rugby Borough Council this week.
The reception area, at the Town Hall in Evreux Way, has been transformed over the past few months to ensure a lighter, more welcoming and modern environment for both customers and staff.
The work, which has been carried out with the help of funding from Warwickshire County Council as part of the ‘Warwickshire Direct’ partnership, has seen the removal of Rugby Borough Council’s old reception desks, which have been replaced with a brand new ‘meet and greet’ service desk.
There are now individual booths available to customers to ensure privacy during their discussions with officers, this initiative being introduced in response to customer feedback.
Additionally, new display screens have been installed to provide customers with information about Borough and Warwickshire County Council events during their visit.
The Rugby Disability Forum was involved with the redevelopment and the facility is now fully DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant to BS:8300 standard, with new more easy-to-read signage and leaflet displays that are at a suitable height for people with mobility problems. The colour scheme is also more appropriate for blind and partially sighted people.
The reception facility remained open throughout the refurbishment works, which started in November.
Speaking at the launch, Councillor Heather Timms, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Customers, Workforce and Partnerships, said: “We’ve been really pleased to work with Rugby Borough Council, hopefully to provide a better customer service here and a wider variety of services.
“It’s good for the county to have our first face-to-face ‘Warwickshire Direct’ facility in Rugby and this is just the start. We’re going to be working very hard to bring more and more services in, so that people can access us a lot more easily.”
Councillor David Wright, Rugby Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Resources, said:
“We wanted our new reception area to be better, brighter and more accessible to all, and that is exactly what we have delivered.
“With our attention increasingly focusing on value for money, I am pleased that we were able to deliver this project with our partners at Warwickshire County Council.
“Their involvement means that in future we’ll be able to offer county council services from our reception area. This will be a major improvement for our customers and I look forward to seeing this happen later in the year.”
The building works for the new ‘Warwickshire Direct’ reception have been carried out by Ian Williams Contractors, who have worked out of hours and overnight to ensure that the reception was open to the public during normal working hours, led by contract manager Andy Lloyd and site foreman Alan Balls.