BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE: Phil Giles is nominated

A customer service assistant at the railway station’s ticket office, Phil is well liked and appreciated by his customers who have nominated him in the Best Customer Service category.

Phil always works hard to get the best deals for customers, and always sends passengers on their way with a smile. Each day he is up at 3.30am to catch the ferry across and then gets the train to start work at 6am.

He has been involved in customer services on the trains for 23 years, starting off on a Youth Training Scheme, and getting a job on the platform at Haywards Heath within seven months. He then worked his way up to conducting, but went back to platform work following a serious cycling accident in which he suffered a fractured skull and was in a coma.

Phil said he likes working with people and loves working at Southbourne. He knows many of the passengers by name and has seen some of them grow from children to adults.

“You get to know them and a lot of them ask for me by name.

“ My motto is to treat customers how I would like to be treated and then you can’t go wrong.”