In the fast-paced world of contact centres, navigating peak periods is an art in itself. Explore lessons learned from past peaks, where we’ll unpack the strategies that helped contact centres meet high demand, avoid pitfalls, and create resilient teams. By sharing real-life examples and discussing sector-specific challenges, we aim to inspire new ways to handle peak pressure effectively.
Hosted by Kate Law, Membership and Learning Director at CCMA, this CONNECT event is designed to help you breathe, reflect, and refine your approach to peak planning.
Here’s what to expect:
- Reflect on recent peak challenges and successes in an open mic session led by Kate Law. Share strategies, explore tech-driven solutions for handling high volume, and gain actionable insights to strengthen team adaptability.
- Discover the strategic edge in peak planning with Steve Woosey, resource planning expert. He’ll dive into the success factors that set top contact centres apart and reveal common pitfalls to avoid, highlighting how strategic resource allocation is key to peak performance.
- Gain insights into UCAS’s Clearing process, where contact centres handle high-volume surges, balancing automation with a personal touch to ensure service quality. Discover their team training and support strategies for managing intense demand effectively.
As always, this is a great opportunity for you to network with your peers and take away ideas to implement in your contact centre.
Agenda
| 09:30 | Registration and Networking | |
| 10:00 | Welcome
Hear the latest news and updates on the CCMA and what to expect from the day. |
Kate Law, Membership and Learning Director, CCMA |
| 10:15 | Open Mic: What we Learnt from the Last Peak
Getting the contact centre ready for peak is so important to achieving your goals. Get it wrong and it can negatively impact your people, customers and be brand damaging. During this open mic session we will reflect on how different contact centres tackled their last peak, the successes as well as the lessons learnt, how technology enabled a more manageable situation and how contact centre teams were given the skills to adapt. |
Kate Law, Membership and Learning Director, CCMA |
| 11:00 | Keynote Speaker: Planning for Peak – It’s More Than Just Recruitment
Steve Woosey experienced resource planning professional and lead judge of the Planning for peak demand awards category shares why planning for peak is so much more than simply recruiting the right number of people. Good planning plays a huge part in successfully handling peak demand, but it’s the strategic element of the planning teams role that drives the best results. This session will focus on the strategies used by finalists over the last few years, the key ingredients of success, and the pitfalls to avoid. |
Steve Woosey, Co-Founder, Director and Principal Consultant, Inspire Customer Contact Partnership |
| 11:30 | Break | |
| 11:50 | Case Study: Dealing with High Emotions Through Clearing
UCAS is an environment that epitomises the concept of ‘mass contact’ through the annual Clearing process, where the contact centre team can receive ten times as many contacts daily over the space of a month compared to a typical day outside of peak. Discover:
|
Sunil Parshotam, Customer Success Manager – Students, UCAS and Tony Popham, Account Director, Route 101 |
| 12:20 | Panel Discussion: Peak in My Sector is Different
Each sector experiences their own challenges when preparing for peak demand, whether this is forecasted or not. Our panel will bring to life how they tackle the balance of servicing customer demand, supporting employees in the contact centres and managing regulatory expectations. Throughout this discussion we will share how technology plays a role in this balancing game. |
Hosted by Kate Law, Membership and Learning Director, CCMA with:
|
| 13:00 | Lunch with optional site tour | |
| 13:30 | Close | |
About the Speakers
Claire Emery, Head of Contact Centre Operations , TUI 
With over 25 years of experience in customer service and contact centres, Claire has a deep understanding of creating exceptional experiences for customers.
She has been an integral part of TUI for the past 6 years, her passion lies in transforming customer interactions and believes in using technology to enhance, rather than replace, the human touch. Her commitment to creating great experiences has led to innovative solutions that blend efficiency with personalised service.
Steve Woosey, Co-Founder, Director and Principal Consultant, Inspire Customer Contact Partnership
Steve is an industry recognised expert in planning and operational management. Having worked for the Forum (Professional Planning Forum) for over 12 years, the last 5 as CEO, Steve has run numerous industry events, created standards frameworks for planning and insight, developed a University degree programme in Customer Contact Management and worked with many businesses to raise standards in their operation (Sky, Direct Line, RSA, Tesco Bank Insurance, Co-Op). Steve has also held the role of Operations Director at Domestic and General delivering a strategic cultural change from sales to sales through service and a move to insurance.
Since founding Inspire Customer Contact Partnership with business partner, David Davies in 2019, Steve has worked with clients large and small, private and public sector, assisting them with the planning and operational needs. During the Covid 19 pandemic Inspire provided the resource planning capability for the Test and Trace programme, supporting over 35k FTE. Other clients include Direct Line Group, Serco, Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, AXA Taking Care, The Wine Society, and Plymouth Community Homes, to name a few.
Steve has been a long time judge on both the UK and European Contact Centre Awards proving valuable insight to the awards programme, whilst keeping up with the latest best practice.
Sunil Parshotam, Customer Success Manager – Student, UCAS
Sunil has worked in the UCAS Customer Experience Centre since 2011 – initially starting as a temp to help over their peak Clearing period, moving to a number of different roles over that time and now manages the department.
He has helped lead a large amount of transformation over this time, especially with the improvement and resilience of UCAS services and experience over their key Confirmation & Clearing period in the summer, when the majority of students receive their exam results.
Having previously managed a successful relationship with an Outsource Partner to now delivering a full in-house strategy, with support from business-wide volunteers. He has help to embed the Contact Centre at the heart of the organisation, using customer insight and empowered agents to drive positive change.
Kate Law, Membership and Learning Director, CCMA
As the Membership and Learning Director at the CCMA (Call Centre Management Association), Kate is drawing on her 20 years’ working in the contact centre industry in order to further support its members.
Prior to the CCMA, Kate was working at Assurant for ten years and in her last role as Customer Services Director, she was responsible for two contact centres and multiple outsource partners across Europe. Kate’s experience also includes time working in the contact centres at Vodafone and Advantis Credit, and also working for contact centre recruiters and training providers.
Nerys Corfield, Contact Centre Consultant, Injection Consulting
Steve Gush, Head of Solutions EMEA, FoundeverBook your place(s)
Supported by
Where and when?
Date: Wed 26 Mar 2025
Time: 09:30 - 13:30
Location: UCAS, Cheltenham
Who is it for?
Contact centre leaders. CCMA members only.
Why should you go?
Network with peers and learn from others around best practices and approaches to push colleagues forward on their unique career journeys.
How much is it?
Included as part of CCMA Membership
Become a member for
- Free events
- Discounts on training
- Member hotline
- A huge peer network
Join today for immediate access.