The award, for customer service, is a major accolade for Aidan Baglow who faced the greatest challenge of his career as Manx Gas conversion project manager for one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the island.
The two-year project was completed last year on time and under budget.
A massive undertaking for Manx Gas, it involved surveying and converting more than 9,000 appliances in 6,700 homes and businesses.
Engineers removed 420 dangerous gas fires, made safe 114 immediately dangerous appliances and resolved 4,200 minor safety issues for customers and at no cost to the customer.
Throughout the project a great deal of emphasis was placed on customer communication and delivering high levels of customer satisfaction.
A converted bus provided a mobile support unit, following the conversion team around and ensuring customers had access to all the support they needed outside their own homes.
An ongoing survey revealed high levels of customer satisfaction and over 150 positive comments. These ‘outstanding achievements’ were recognised at the industry’s prestigious annual awards lunch at The Hillton on London’s Park Lane, sponsored by the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (IGEM) and the Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA).
The citation for the Gas Industry Customer Services Award presented to Mr Baglow said: ‘Manx Gas monitored their customers’ feedback which ensured that the customer came first, regardless of the size or complexity of the tasks being delivered.’
Mr Baglow said: ‘This project was a great example of how the effective use of technology can help increase efficiencies, improve customer service and also achieve significant cost savings.
‘From a technical perspective it was also a great demonstration of the benefits of mobile technology.’
He added: ‘Manx Gas worked in partnership with island-based software developer PDMS to deliver an IT solution to help administer and manage the natural gas conversion project, drawing on PDMS’ experience of the gas sector through their work with Centrica and their expertise in mobile solutions.