Case study 2 February 2020

Eurostar – protecting ‘Europe’s most loved travel experience’

The challenge

Dubbed ‘Europe’s most loved travel experience,’ Eurostar sets the standard for international high-speed passenger rail travel.

Eurostar sought a security partner with expertise in the aviation and transport sectors and a like-minded approach to service excellence.

With over 10 million customers passing through Eurostar terminals every year, security is a top priority, and the organisation demands the same diligence found at a busy international airport.

Solution

Mitie has provided security services to Eurostar for over 10 years. This includes thorough searches, including scanning arches as well as body and bag scanning conducted at the Eurostar terminals in St Pancras, Ebbsfleet, Ashford and Temple Mills depot. Speedy processing is key, together with exceptional customer service.

The security services we deliver for the Eurostar include:

  • Access control
  • Passenger screening with x-rays and AMD
  • Pedestrian and train searches
  • Exit checks
  • Hosting e-gates

Thanks to our extensive client portfolio in the sector, we have a large team of officers to call on for relief purposes. This ensures the client receives the service they need, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

To support service excellence, we have introduced a tailored customer service training package called We Care. This was created following briefing sessions with key Eurostar stakeholders, during which we worked to understand what was important to the organisation and its valued passengers.

In addition, we held workshops with on-site security teams. The sessions were supported by our expert training and performance specialists and resulted in four We Care values:

  • Customers come first
  • Attitude is a state of mind
  • Responsible decisions, every time
  • Extra miles mean extra smiles

These values are used to define the expected behaviour of every member of the Eurostar security team.

As part of the We Care programme, we also launched a bi-monthly customer service newsletter to inform our teams of the latest operational performance stats. We use this platform to share success stories and promote best practice focussed on providing the ultimate passenger experience.

We also participate in Eurostar’s Avantage and Etoile schemes, aimed at delivering seamless passenger experience between Mitie’s security teams and third-party suppliers:

  • One of our female staff at Ebbsfleet received the Etoile award as recognition for her assistance to a male passenger who had collapsed on the travellator. She provided CPR and called the emergency services, saving his life.

One of the most impactful measures has been the creation of a concierge-style role to support the passenger queuing system. This has led to Eurostar passengers progressing through security much more efficiently.

Outcome

With increased scores month onmonth in Eurostar’s customer surveys he results of these customer service improvements spoke for themselves.

In July 2019, the team received external recognition for exceptional performance when they were awards the Best Team in the British Security Awards.

The Eurostar Security Team, Best Team, British Security Awards, 2019.

“I just wanted to express my thanks for the tremendous support given by the Mitie security team at St Pancras following the strikes from the customer services and platform teams at St Pancras International.

The team supported several different functions, including control of customers for borders, departures areas and boarding, as well as assistance mobility support, and they also generally supported any void or duties in need accordingly.

The feedback from customers and Eurostar work colleagues has been extremely positive. The security team’s commitment to ensuring the business operated as usual is a credit to the leadership from the management teams and should be formally acknowledged and recognised.”

Matt Rogers, Head of UK Security

More information

  • Every officer on the Eurostar contract has CTC clearance and is trained to UK Department for Transport standards in x-ray operation, bag search and body search.

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