UK Contact Centre Forum

Debate III: CX on the Frontier: The New Frontier, Human Like Enterprise – 14th May 2026, 12:30pm

Editor — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:37:55 +0000

CX on the Frontier:
Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement

Debate II: The Machine Mind

16th April 2026 – 12:30pm

This session explores how AI is increasingly shaping the decisions we make, the content we consume, and the systems that run around us, often without us noticing. We’ll debate what it means to live alongside “machine minds” that don’t just respond to human behaviour, but actively anticipate it, influence it, and automate it at scale.

Secure your place

One-Click Access: Register once and you’re set for the entire three-part series.

Meet our panel:

Elaine Lee

Vulnerability and Inclusive Customer Experience Specialist

Elaine Lee is Managing Director at Reynolds Busby Lee, where she advises organisations on customer experience and responsible marketing. She brings strategic insight and a practical, people-first approach to help brands improve communications, loyalty, and support for vulnerable customers. She also works with contact centre teams to effectively deliver those communications in personalised and engaging ways that ensure brand engagement and loyalty.

Nerys Corfield

Independant Contact Centre Consultant, Injection Consulting

With over a quarter-century of hands-on experience in the world of contact centres – whether it’s running them, scrutinising their operations, or judging their performance – I’ve developed a keen understanding of what truly drives their success. This experience coupled with an obsession into the world of contact centre technology means that when I conduct my proven contact centre discovery framework the practical and actionable recommendations cut across People, Processes, and Technology.

My approach is tenacious, creative, pragmatic and unapologetically direct. I look to provide businesses with the clarity and conviction needed to bring about transformation helping them embrace meaningful enhancements and navigate a path to:

✔️ Heightened Operational Performance
✔️ Cost Reduction
✔️ Elevated Customer Experience

Nicola Collister

CEO & Founder, Custerian

Nicola Collister is the CEO and Co-Founder of Custerian, a people-powered change agency that challenges conventional thinking about customer experience. With over 25 years at senior executive level across FTSE 100 companies and global organisations, Nicola has built a reputation as one of the industry’s most commercially minded disruptors — someone who delivers transformation, not just talks about it.

Her career has been defined by firsts: pioneering homeworking solutions at the RAC before remote work was mainstream, building one of the UK’s first self-employed home agent networks, scaling a home courier operation to over 3,500 people at Yodel, and delivering the UK’s largest customer experience transformation programme as Group CX Director at Shop Direct (now Very Group).

Today, through Custerian, Nicola works with organisations navigating the forces reshaping CX — from AI and automation to the fundamental rethink of how businesses create value through people. Her firm’s “People Experience” framework directly confronts the industry’s declining customer satisfaction scores, arguing that technology alone won’t fix what’s broken. Real transformation demands a commercially grounded approach that connects customer outcomes, colleague experience, and bottom-line returns.

Nicola is also a business mentor, investor in scale-up businesses, and a vocal critic of CX that prioritises buzzwords over business impact. She brings sharp, experience-backed views on where the outsourcing and CX sectors are heading in 2027 and beyond — and what leaders need to do now to stay ahead.

Paula Brockwell

Founder & Lead Psychologist, The Employee Experience Project

Paula Brockwell is a Chartered Psychologist and Founder of The Employee Experience Project. She works with HR leaders, executive teams and boards to make culture a strategic lever for performance.

Paula brings deep insight into human behaviour, motivation and organisational dynamics. She helps senior leaders understand what is really driving experience and performance in their organisations, and supports them to turn that insight into focused, practical action. Her work is grounded, evidence-based and commercially aware, helping organisations create workplaces where people can do their best work and deliver meaningful impact.

Meet our trilogy chair:

Marianne Withers

Business Partner, Atombit

Marianne Withers is a recognised force in customer experience, operational transformation, and human-centred innovation. As Founder & CEO of The Verity Centre, and now leading Atombit’s CX, People, and Technology Transformation portfolio in the UK, she is shaping a new era of intelligent, emotionally attuned business performance. Marianne combines deep operational expertise with emerging technology to deliver data driven, design led solutions that redefine how organisations serve, support, and connect with their customers.

With over 30 years’ experience across financial services, healthcare, energy, and the retail sector, Marianne is renowned for transforming cultures, elevating performance, and unlocking sustainable growth. Her work bridges commercial impact with human insight, creating environments where people thrive, technology amplifies capability, and customers feel genuinely understood.

As an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Portsmouth, she mentors founders with strategic guidance, innovation support, and ecosystem building, championing inclusive entrepreneurship and advancing women in enterprise. Marianne also serves as a Non-Executive Director for The Road from Karachi, providing strategic counsel to its founder and driving the organisation’s long-term vision, operational maturity, and community impact.

Bold, authentic, and instinctively future-focused, Marianne is a catalyst for meaningful change, empowering people, accelerating innovation, and redefining what modern leadership looks like.

Secure your place

One-Click Access: Register once and you’re set for the entire three-part series.

The post Debate III: CX on the Frontier: The New Frontier, Human Like Enterprise – 14th May 2026, 12:30pm first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

UKCCF North East Networking Event, 8th May 2026, Newcastle

Editor — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:08:27 +0000

North East Networking Event

hosted by:

LNER, Newcastle

8th May 2026, 9am – 12:15pm

Spaces are limited so book your place today!

The UKCCF would like to invite you to join us for our next UKCCF North East networking event at the London North East Railway Customer Contact Centre – Newcastle (NLER) . We have a line up of speakers that will deliver thought leadership presentations

Agenda

9.00am – 9.30am
Coffee & Registration

9.30am – 9.45am
Trevor Butterworth, UKCCF
Welcome & Update
Discover what’s ahead for the UKCCF in Q3 2026. Trevor will preview our upcoming networking events and webinars and reveal the nomination opening date for the UKCCF National Awards 2026.

9.45am – 10.15am
Craig McGill – Senior Manager – 8X8
Let’s do away with unnecessary effort.
It’s 2026. It’s an era when technology is here to make life easier for us, not harder. So why do we still have burnt out agents and stressed supervisors leading to poor employee and customer experience.

10.15am – 10.45am
Simon Brennan – VP Sales – EngageHub
“Controlled AI: A practical framework for secure, compliant customer engagement”
How to enable organisations to deploy AI with confidence and transparency – delivering innovation that is not only intelligent, but also secure, compliant and fully under control (including the cost of it).

10.45am – 11.15am
Coffee Break

11.15am – 12.00
Panel Discussion Group Session
“Engaging, Retaining and Upskilling Contact Centre Talent”
Retention and engagement remain major challenges across contact centres. In this panel, leaders from LNER, One Utility Bill, Northumbrian Water and Barbour discuss how effective training can improve morale, reduce attrition and create clear development pathways.

Panelists:
Jen Tait – Rise Learning Group (Host)
Aaron Glew – LNER
Kirsty Russell – One Utility Bill
Nicola Metcalfe – Northumbrian Water
Dawn Ray – Barbour

12.00pm
Meeting Closes.

If you have any further questions , or would like to register for this event, please contact Trevor Butterworth on 07932 669 299 or email trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk using the form below

Venue

London North East Railway Customer Contact Centre – Newcastle (NLER)
1 St James Gate
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 4AD

Register your place below

[contact-form-7]

The post UKCCF North East Networking Event, 8th May 2026, Newcastle first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

UKCCF London Networking Event, 22nd May 2026

Editor — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:29:53 +0000

UKCCF London Networking Event:

22nd May 2026

Venue & Agenda TBC

[contact-form-7]

8th April 2026, 9am – 12pm – Cisco Offices, Glasgow

Spaces are limited so book your place today!

The UKCCF would like to invite you to join us for our next networking session in Scotland on 8th April 2026 at the Cisco Office Glasgow

Agenda

09:00am – 09:30am
Coffee & Registration

09:30am – 09:45am
Trevor Butterworth, Founder, UKCCF Ltd
Welcome & Update
Trevor opens the day with an overview of the UKCCF roadmap and our full calendar of events through year-end 2026. This session also features a formal introduction to the recently launched UKCCF National Contact Centre Awards 2026, outlining the categories and key dates for this year’s programme.

09:45am – 10:15am
Darren Wake & Richard Blakeborough – CustomerSure,
“Turning Contact Centre Feedback into Better Experiences – Current Trends and Best Practice”
We’ll explore what Voice of the Customer really means in practice, the different ways organisations can capture customer feedback, and how effective VoC programmes help organisations improve customer experience, support frontline teams, and drive meaningful change across the business.

The session will cover:

What Voice of the Customer is — and what it isn’t
The benefits of VoC for customers, employees, and the wider organisation
What an effective customer feedback programme looks like in a contact centre environment
Common pitfalls to avoid
Best-practice tips for running and managing a successful Voice of the Customer programme

Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how to start (or improve) a Voice of the Customer approach, and how customer feedback can be turned into insight, action, and better outcomes for both customers and colleagues.

10:15am – 10:45am
Brian Mallen – JAM Card
A strategic approach to embedding effective inclusivity-led customer service for all – particularly, vulnerable customers’.
The JAM Card is a unique way of supporting Vulnerable customers and will support your advisors in dealing with customers that need additional support.

10:45am – 11:15am
Coffee Break

11:15am – 12:15pm
Trevor Geraghty – Account Executive – Cisco
“AI-augmented contact centres – So now your new colleagues are all robots”
How is that working out for you ? Will office parties ever be the same again !
AI-powered agents are transforming customer experience with autonomous resolutions, real-time insights, and seamless human-AI collaboration-delivering faster, smarter, and more personalized service worldwide. What have we learned and where next .

12:15pm
Meeting Closes

12:15pm – 13:00
Buffet Lunch provided by Cisco

We do hope that you can join us for this session, if you have any questions regarding this session, please contact:
Trevor Butterworth
E: trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk
T: 07932 669 299

If you have any further questions , or would like to register for this event, please contact Trevor Butterworth on 07932 669 299 or email trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk using the form below

Venue

Cisco
Dalmore House
6th Floor
310 St Vincent Street
Glasgow
G2 5RG

Register your place below

[contact-form-7]

The post UKCCF London Networking Event, 22nd May 2026 first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

UKCCF Midlands Networking Event, 14th May 2026

Editor — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:26:53 +0000

UKCCF Midlands Networking Event:

14th May 2026

Venue & Agenda TBC

[contact-form-7]

8th April 2026, 9am – 12pm – Cisco Offices, Glasgow

Spaces are limited so book your place today!

The UKCCF would like to invite you to join us for our next networking session in Scotland on 8th April 2026 at the Cisco Office Glasgow

Agenda

09:00am – 09:30am
Coffee & Registration

The session will cover:

What Voice of the Customer is — and what it isn’t
The benefits of VoC for customers, employees, and the wider organisation
What an effective customer feedback programme looks like in a contact centre environment
Common pitfalls to avoid
Best-practice tips for running and managing a successful Voice of the Customer programme

10:45am – 11:15am
Coffee Break

12:15pm
Meeting Closes

12:15pm – 13:00
Buffet Lunch provided by Cisco

We do hope that you can join us for this session, if you have any questions regarding this session, please contact:
Trevor Butterworth
E: trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk
T: 07932 669 299

If you have any further questions , or would like to register for this event, please contact Trevor Butterworth on 07932 669 299 or email trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk using the form below

Venue

Cisco
Dalmore House
6th Floor
310 St Vincent Street
Glasgow
G2 5RG

Register your place below

[contact-form-7]

The post UKCCF Midlands Networking Event, 14th May 2026 first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

Debate II: CX on the Frontier: Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement – The Machine Mind – 16th April 2026, 12:30pm

Editor — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:24:20 +0000

CX on the Frontier:
Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement

Debate II: The Machine Mind

16th April 2026 – 12:30pm

Secure your place

One-Click Access: Register once and you’re set for the entire three-part series.

Meet our panel:

Elaine Lee

Vulnerability and Inclusive Customer Experience Specialist

Nerys Corfield

Independant Contact Centre Consultant, Injection Consulting

Nicola Collister

CEO & Founder, Custerian

Paula Brockwell

Founder & Lead Psychologist, The Employee Experience Project

Paula Brockwell is a Chartered Psychologist and Founder of The Employee Experience Project. She works with HR leaders, executive teams and boards to make culture a strategic lever for performance.

Meet our trilogy chair:

Marianne Withers

Business Partner, Atombit

Bold, authentic, and instinctively future-focused, Marianne is a catalyst for meaningful change, empowering people, accelerating innovation, and redefining what modern leadership looks like.

Secure your place

One-Click Access: Register once and you’re set for the entire three-part series.

The post Debate II: CX on the Frontier: Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement – The Machine Mind – 16th April 2026, 12:30pm first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

UKCCF/Atombit Supper Club, 11th June 2026, London

Editor — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:14:57 +0000

As part of the Trilogy of Debates, we are delighted to host a very special Supper Club in London, 4^th June 2026, inspired by the theme “CX on the Frontier: Breaking the Rules of Human Engagement.”

Join us for an intimate evening of provocative conversation, bold thinking and exceptional company awaits.

Should you wish to join us for this special gathering, please register your interest below. As places are limited, attendance will be confirmed via mail by Atombit.

[contact-form-7]

The post UKCCF/Atombit Supper Club, 11th June 2026, London first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

UKCCF Roundtable Discussion Group in partnership with Mitel, 17th April 2026 – London

Editor — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 09:42:34 +0000

UKCCF Roundtable discussion group in partnership with

17th April 2026, 9am – 12pm – CGI Offices, London

Spaces are limited so book your place today!

The UKCCF would like to invite you to join us for our next UKCCF – Mitel Event at the CGI offices in London.

Fix the Friction – Human‑Centered CX in the AI Era

Join us on 17 April at the CGI Building, London, for an executive roundtable exploring how organisations can design customer experience transformation in the age of AI while keeping the human experience at the centre of decision making.

Many organisations continue to invest heavily in CX technologies, automation, and AI platforms. However, customer frustration and employee burnout remain common. This event challenges leaders to rethink CX transformation by starting with human experience design rather than technology.

This half‑day session, hosted by UKCCF, Paul Hughes from Mitel, and Katie Stabler, founder of CULTIVATE Customer Experience by Design, to discuss how leaders can:

Fix Friction Before Features: identify journey breakdowns and organisational silos.

Human-Centred AI: use AI to augment human judgement and reduce effort.

Measure What Matters – link CX outcomes to revenue, retention, trust and cost-to-serve.

Agenda

9:00 – 9:30am – Arrival, Coffee and Registration

9:30am – Welcome: Trevor Butterworth, UKCCF

Mitel Session:
Session 1
Why CX transformation fails when technology comes first

Designing AI around Human Experience (HX)
Measuring CX value beyond CSAT and NPS

10:45 – 11:00am – Coffee Break

Session 2
Customer Case Study: Real World Transformation
Paul Hughes, & Katie Stabler – Panel Discussion – CX Reality Check

12:15 -13:00 – Lunch

If you have any further questions , or would like to register for this event, please contact Trevor Butterworth on 07932 669 299 or email trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk using the form below

Venue

CGI
14th Floor,
20 Fenchurch Street,
London,
EC3M 3BY

Map & Directions

If you’re focused on elevating CX while navigating the impact of AI, this is a session you won’t want to miss. Secure your place.

Register your place below

[contact-form-7]

The post UKCCF Roundtable Discussion Group in partnership with Mitel, 17th April 2026 – London first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

Webinar Series: Vulnerability on the Line – What happens when risk, responsibility and human emotions collide?

Editor — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 10:46:56 +0000

Vulnerability on the Line – What happens when risk, responsibility and human emotions collide?

UKCCF 6-Part Webinar Series chaired by Elaine Lee, Managing Director, Reynolds Busby Lee

Secure your place

One-Click Access: You only have to register once to unlock access to all 6 sessions.

The old playbook for customer vulnerability is officially obsolete.

For years, businesses have treated vulnerability as an “edge case”—a flag to be raised or a specific script to be read. But in today’s reality, vulnerability isn’t an exception; it’s structural. When cost-of-living crises, mental health challenges, and housing insecurity collide with corporate KPIs, the result is often a messy, high-stakes friction that traditional systems simply aren’t built to handle.

UKCCF would like to invite you to join us for our new webinar series: to Vulnerability on the Line – What happens when risk, responsibility and human emotions collide? , a 6-part webinar series chaired by Elaine Lee, Managing Director of Reynolds Busby Lee. For each session, Elaine will be joined by a different industry guest to share their unique perspective and engage in an in-depth discussion on the challenges at hand.

Over six sessions, we are moving past the “tick-box” exercise of compliance to explore what happens when risk, responsibility, and raw human emotions collide on the front line.

The Series Roadmap:

Session 1: When Vulnerability Walks In: Stop Pretending It’s an Edge Case

When: 18th February 2026 – 12:30pm (45 min session)

Guest speaker: Sophie Cotton, Chief Customer Officer, Newstel Worldwide

What we wil cover:

The Volume Reality: Why debt, health, and housing insecurity are now core business drivers, not outliers.
Moving Beyond the “Flag”: The hidden dangers of treating human struggle as a mere checkbox or script.
The Leadership Blindspot: What decision-makers consistently underestimate regarding the frequency and intensity of customer needs.
Systemic Redesign: How to stop building for the “average” and start building for the actual.

Session 2: The Double Bind: Supporting Vulnerable Customers with Vulnerable Staff

When: 15th April 2026 – 12:30pm (30 min session)

Guest Speaker: Claire Dobson, Head of Operations, HGS UK

What we wil cover:

The Absorption of Risk: Why frontline staff end up carrying the emotional load that organisations fail to categorise.
Beyond Burnout: Understanding the mechanics of emotional contagion, empathy fatigue, and cumulative trauma.
The Resilience Myth: Why “wellbeing apps” and “resilience training” are failing to fix systemic damage.
The Hidden Cost of Care: How the drive to “support the customer” can quietly erode the mental health of the agent.

Session 3: Empathy Isn’t Enough: Where Good Intentions Make Things Worse

When: 10th June 2026 – 12:30pm (30 min session)

Guest Speaker: Sarah Birch, Head of Business Development, G4S

What we will cover:

The Empathy Backfire: Why emotional alignment without boundaries leads to “rescuing” behaviors and escalation loops.
Containment vs. Connection: Learning the vital distinction between feeling with a customer and holding space for them.
The High-Performer Secret: Analysing what skilled agents do differently to stay calm and effective under extreme pressure.
Closing the Drain: How to prevent agents from over-identifying with trauma and carrying the “emotional debt” of their shift home.

Session 4: Judgement Calls Under Pressure: What Agents Are Really Deciding

Date: TBC – July 2026 – 12:30pm (30 min session)

Guest Speaker: Marianne Withers, Business Partner, Atombit

What we will cover:

The Hidden Decision-Tree: A look at the split-second choices agents make that never show up in your CRM data.
Compliance vs. Compassion: Why forcing agents to choose between “the rules” and “the right thing” creates a culture of invisible risk.
The System Failure Trap: Why inconsistent outcomes are rarely a “performance issue” and almost always a design flaw.
The Psychology of Fear: How uncertainty about “getting it wrong” fundamentally changes how agents handle vulnerable callers.

Session 5: When Silence Creates Risk - Why Vulnerable Customers Are Failed When Staff Don't Speak Up

Date: 23rd September 2026 – 12:30pm (30 min session)

Guest Speaker: Vicki Mercer, Head of Customer Service, Charities Aid Foundation

What we will cover:

The Cost of Silence: Why staff hesitation is the single greatest unseen risk to your most vulnerable service users.
The Debriefing Gap: How poor (or non-existent) post-call debriefs ensure that harm is repeated rather than used as a tool for learning.
Psychological Safety at the Frontline: What stops an agent from saying “this process is failing this customer,” and how that silence compounds over time.
Emotional Signals as Data: How to transform the “gut feelings” of your staff into a proactive risk-management strategy.

Session 6: Vulnerability with Backbone: Designing Centres Fit for Reality

Date: 11th November 2026 – 12:30pm (45 min session)

Guest Speaker: TBC

What we will cover:

Vulnerability by Design: How to embed vulnerability considerations directly into your policy, workflow, and leadership DNA.
The Standardisation Balance: Identifying exactly what should be automated/standardised and what must remain protected as a human interaction.
Empowerment vs. Infantilisation: How to provide robust support for agents without stripping away their professional agency and autonomy.
Leadership Competence: Why vulnerability management is a core commercial and operational skill, not just a “wellbeing add-on.”

Meet our series chair:

Elaine Lee

Managing Director, Reynolds Busby Lee

Meet our Guest Speakers:

Guest Speaker: Part 1

Sophie Cotton

Chief Customer Officer, Newstel Worldwide

Sophie is an accomplished, time-served leader in e-commerce, with deep expertise across contact centres and customer experience. She brings a pragmatic, commercially grounded approach to delivering insight-led service in fast-moving, omni-channel environments.

Throughout her career, Sophie has aligned contact centre operations and CX strategy to support rapid corporate growth, always underpinned by a strong understanding of the three critical pillars: people, process and systems. She has extensive experience in scaling teams, leading change programmes, embedding fit-for-purpose processes and selecting and implementing key SaaS technologies to drive meaningful Voice of the Customer insight.

A passionate advocate for customer-first cultures, Sophie is known for challenging organisations to act on CX insight — particularly where it can improve outcomes for customers who may be vulnerable or at risk of detriment.

Sophie is a recognised industry speaker. She is also a Silver Winner of the UKCCF Awards in Director of the Year.

Guest Speaker: Part 2

Claire Dobson

Head of Operations, HGS UK

Claire is a dynamic Head of Operations with over 17 years’ experience in retail, operations, and change management.

She is passionate about people, committed to developing talent, and creating positive, safe working environments where employees can achieve their potential.

She has extensive experience of large scale development through innovation (up to £3.2bn), leveraging expertise to translate complex growth programmes into measurable KPIs, programme steps, and actionable outcomes. Claire has led multi-site operations, compliance programmes, and new brand launches, and has a proven record of delivering transformation across public and private sector clients.

Operational leadership across large, complex organisations
Change management and business transformation
Public sector service delivery (health, citizen services, regulatory)
Multi-site operations and governance
Talent development and people leadership
KPI driven performance improvement
Stakeholder and client relationship Management

Secure your place

One-Click Access: You only have to register once to unlock access to all 6 sessions.

The post Webinar Series: Vulnerability on the Line – What happens when risk, responsibility and human emotions collide? first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

Debate I: CX on the Frontier: Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement | 12th March 2026, 12:30pm

Editor — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:00:11 +0000

CX on the Frontier:
Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement

Debate I: The Human Limit

12th March 2026 – 12:30pm

The Human Limit: Examining the Limitations of Human Empathy, Intuition, and Emotional Intelligence in CX the Next Generation

This debate is designed to explore a core question at the heart of next generation customer experience. How far can human capability realistically scale in modern CX, and where does it break down.

Secure your place

One-Click Access: Register once and you’re set for the entire three-part series.

Meet our panel:

Elaine Lee

Vulnerability and Inclusive Customer Experience Specialist

Danny Wareham

Psychologist, Author, Accredited Coach, Psychometrician

Danny believes that happy bees make tasty honey.
With a purposeful culture, strategy and support systems, high performance becomes a side effect.

He is a psychologist, author, accredited coach, and psychometrician whose work lies at the intersection of leadership, culture and personality, with a focus on individual differences – especially the “dark triad” traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.

An expert in culture and leadership dynamics, Danny has been recognised among the Global Top 25 Thought Leaders on Culture and the Top 50 in Leadership and has spent nearly 30-years in contact centre, retail and fintech industries, designing cultures, leadership systems, and strategies in which energy, clarity, and collaboration multiply success.

He is the founder of Firgun, a consultancy whose Hebrew name captures his core motivation: “the genuine, sincere and pure happiness for another person’s accomplishment or experience”, whose clients include Worldpay, M&G Investment Bank, and LEGO.

Dr Debashish (Deb) Sengupta

Senior Academic, Award-winning Author specialising in Psychology and Generational Behaviour

Dr Debashish (Deb) Sengupta is a Senior Academic and Course Leader for the MSc International Business & Management programme at the University of Portsmouth, London Campus. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), an award-winning author, researcher and educator with over 25 years of international experience across the United Kingdom, the Middle East and India. His career is distinguished by academic leadership, teaching innovation, research scholarship and deep engagement with industry and professional practice.

An award-winning author, Deb has written nine books, including the acclaimed Penguin Random House title The Life of Y: Engaging Millennials as Employees and Consumers, winner of the DMA–NTPC Best Business Book Award and featured in the Stanford University Library collection. He is also the author of The Life of Z, a widely recognised book on Generation Z, alongside several other professional and business titles. His forthcoming academic textbook, Human Resource Management: Understanding Traditional Foundations and Modern Innovations, will be published by Routledge (UK). He is also co-author of Stumped: Life Behind and Beyond Twenty-Two Yards, published by Penguin Random House and launched at the House of Lords in June 2025.

Deb’s research interests span generational behaviour at work, gender and entrepreneurship, sustainable consumption, the future of work and higher education transformation. His peer-reviewed scholarship has been published in international journals including the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Social Responsibility Journal, Fashion, Style & Popular Culture, and the International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets. He also contributes to sector publications on higher education strategy, employability and pedagogy, writing on curriculum reform, skills development and educational transformation. He has received multiple research honours, including the Best Research Project Award (2022–23) presented by the Education Minister of Bahrain. He holds dual PhD degrees and a Harvard University teaching certification.

Deb’s academic work is driven by a commitment to bridging theory and real-world application. His teaching philosophy centres on active blended learning, authentic assessment and industry-embedded education, enabling students to develop analytical rigour, professional confidence and employability skills. At the University of Portsmouth, he leads curriculum innovation through live industry briefs, simulations and civic-engaged projects, including a flagship collaboration with the London Borough of Waltham Forest on sustainability and decarbonisation feasibility. His Industry Educator model, which integrates global practitioners into classroom learning, has influenced teaching practice across programmes and campuses.

He has previously held senior academic leadership positions, including Associate Professor and HR Area Coordinator at the Royal University for Women in Bahrain, as well as Professor, Area Chair, and Director at Alliance University in India. In these roles, he led accreditation and quality assurance initiatives, including AACSB curriculum and assurance-of-learning standards, programme transformation and curriculum mapping. Beyond academia, Deb has designed and delivered executive education, leadership development, and professional training programmes for organisations across the UK, the Gulf region, and India, and serves as an international speaker, mentor, and advisor to startups and leadership teams navigating generational and organisational change.

Deb’s work reflects a sustained commitment to educational innovation, research-informed practice and meaningful partnerships between universities, industry and society.

Meet our trilogy chair:

Marianne Withers

Business Partner, Atombit

Bold, authentic, and instinctively future-focused, Marianne is a catalyst for meaningful change, empowering people, accelerating innovation, and redefining what modern leadership looks like.

Secure your place

One-Click Access: Register once and you’re set for the entire three-part series.

The post Debate I: CX on the Frontier: Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement | 12th March 2026, 12:30pm first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

Enhancing Customer Experience within Local Authorities

Editor — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 12:19:57 +0000

Enhancing Customer Experience

within Local Authorities

27th March 2025, 13:30 – 16:00, London

Hosted by:

The UKCCF and CGI would like to invite you to join us for at an exclusive event on Thursday, 27 March 2025, where we will be exploring strategies to enhance customer experience within Local Authorities (LAs).

Delivering exceptional service to your citizens, whilst simultaneously lowering the cost to serve and freeing up resources to better support the most vulnerable in society is more important than ever, and this event will bring together experts from across the sector to share insights, best practices, and practical solutions to these challenges.

Guest Speakers

Kevin Giles – Crown Commercial Services
How CCS can support Local Authorities

Trevor Butterworth, Founder, UKCCF
UKCCF – An overview of the UKCCF Accreditation Programme and how it helps to drive excellence across citizen and agent experiences.

Debbie Coveney – Royal Borough of Greenwich
A fireside chat on her journey through accreditation and its impact on her operations.

Freshdesk
An art of the possible live demo on how their contact centre platform can help Local Authorities improve citizen experience and interactions

Networking Drinks – After the event, please join us for networking drinks at the Sky Garden

We do hope that you can join us for this session, if you have any questions regarding this session, please contact:

Trevor Butterworth
E: trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk
T: 07932 669 299

Register

Complete your details below and we will send you the full agenda as soon as it is released.

[contact-form-7]

Venue

20 Fenchurch Street
London
EC3M 3BY

If you have any further questions about this event, please contact Trevor Butterworth on 07932669299 or email trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk

The post Enhancing Customer Experience within Local Authorities first appeared on UK Contact Centre Forum.

UK Contact Centre Forum

Debate III: CX on the Frontier: The New Frontier, Human Like Enterprise – 14th May 2026, 12:30pm

CX on the Frontier:Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement

Debate II: The Machine Mind

Secure your place

Meet our panel:

Elaine Lee

Nerys Corfield

Nicola Collister

Paula Brockwell

Meet our trilogy chair:

Marianne Withers

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UKCCF North East Networking Event, 8th May 2026, Newcastle

North East Networking Event

8th May 2026, 9am – 12:15pm

Spaces are limited so book your place today!

If you have any further questions , or would like to register for this event, please contact Trevor Butterworth on 07932 669 299 or email trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk using the form below

Venue

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UKCCF London Networking Event, 22nd May 2026

UKCCF London Networking Event:

22nd May 2026

Spaces are limited so book your place today!

If you have any further questions , or would like to register for this event, please contact Trevor Butterworth on 07932 669 299 or email trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk using the form below

Venue

Register your place below

UKCCF Midlands Networking Event, 14th May 2026

UKCCF Midlands Networking Event:

14th May 2026

Spaces are limited so book your place today!

If you have any further questions , or would like to register for this event, please contact Trevor Butterworth on 07932 669 299 or email trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk using the form below

Venue

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Debate II: CX on the Frontier: Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement – The Machine Mind – 16th April 2026, 12:30pm

CX on the Frontier:Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement

Debate II: The Machine Mind

Secure your place

Meet our panel:

Elaine Lee

Nerys Corfield

Nicola Collister

Paula Brockwell

Meet our trilogy chair:

Marianne Withers

Secure your place

UKCCF/Atombit Supper Club, 11th June 2026, London

UKCCF Roundtable Discussion Group in partnership with Mitel, 17th April 2026 – London

UKCCF Roundtable discussion group in partnership with

Spaces are limited so book your place today!

If you have any further questions , or would like to register for this event, please contact Trevor Butterworth on 07932 669 299 or email trevor@uk-ccf.co.uk using the form below

Venue

Register your place below

Webinar Series: Vulnerability on the Line – What happens when risk, responsibility and human emotions collide?

Vulnerability on the Line – What happens when risk, responsibility and human emotions collide?

UKCCF 6-Part Webinar Series chaired by Elaine Lee, Managing Director, Reynolds Busby Lee

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The Series Roadmap:

Meet our series chair:

Elaine Lee

Meet our Guest Speakers:

Guest Speaker: Part 1

Sophie Cotton

Guest Speaker: Part 2

Claire Dobson

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Debate I: CX on the Frontier: Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement | 12th March 2026, 12:30pm

CX on the Frontier:Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement

Debate I: The Human Limit

Secure your place

Meet our panel:

Elaine Lee

Danny Wareham

Dr Debashish (Deb) Sengupta

Meet our trilogy chair:

Marianne Withers

Secure your place

Enhancing Customer Experience within Local Authorities

Enhancing Customer Experience

within Local Authorities

CX on the Frontier:
Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement

CX on the Frontier:
Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement

CX on the Frontier:
Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement