AVK UK Growing Together Conference 2024

Internal conference for the AVK UK Group of Companies 03-06-2024

‘Growing Together’ was the theme of AVK in the UK’s Conference in May 2024. It asked the question: ‘How can we engage more effectively with existing and prospective customers to enable us to grow together?’

Almost 100 leaders from AVK in the UK’s four businesses – AVK UK, Fusion, Glenfield Invicta, Atplas – gathered in Nottingham to tackle subjects that are central to water companies’ ability to address the challenges they face in AMP8.

On sustainability, it was recognised that, ‘…our carbon is also our customers’ carbon’. We are committed to driving down our own carbon and to working with our water industry partners – utilities, contractors, distributors and supply chain – to achieve science-based emissions reduction targets.

There was a strong focus on, and commitment to, customer service throughout the Conference. In particular, it was recognised that customers’ experience of service has a strong human and emotional dimension; it is far more than the baseline of achieving and reporting KPIs. In the case of customer service, memory is the product. Customers can expect exciting customer service announcements and initiatives in the coming months.

Customer service is just one dimension of effective engagement and communication with customers and prospects. The AVK in the UK Digital Transformation team demonstrated how digitalisation is able to enhance face-to-face customer interactions. In time, Digital Transformation will enable customers to create their own bespoke ‘My AVK’ portal. The portal will provide a repository for data, interactions and, potentially, may include a carbon tracker.

Experts from across AVK in the UK’s four businesses, spoke about the importance of identifying and delivering ‘added value’ for customers. This message is encapsulated in one of AVK’s Expect brand promises: expect solutions not just products. One dimension of creating ‘added value’ was identified as embracing the full breadth of AVK Group’s global product and service offer to shape comprehensive solutions to the challenges faced by customers.

For marketing communications to be authentic and valued by customers, all Conference delegates were challenged by AVK UK Group Chairman, Paul Hubbard, to develop a deep understanding of our business proposition, and be able to clearly communicate this to customers and prospects alike. Our business proposition has several dimensions including AVK core values, AVK Expect brand promises, added value solutions and customer service and support.

After bringing the Conference to a close, Paul Hubbard reflected on its success:

‘Across AVK’s four businesses in the UK and the global AVK Group, our teams have access to an incredible range of engineering, technology and practical know-how. I was particularly struck by the collective pride the delegates had in our UK manufacturing and assembly facilities; I think we need to make this more explicit and give as many customers as possible a taste of the investment we are making across our four businesses in the UK.

I finished the Conference energised and focused by the willingness of delegates to learn and embrace new ideas, and the enthusiasm of our teams to work together to solve the problems being faced by customers. I came away from the Conference confident in the knowledge that we can grow together with our customers.’