Businesses in Mansfield town centre were rewarded for their commitment to delivering high levels of customer service.

Mansfield Business Improvement District (BID invited all businesses in its area to take part in an annual awards scheme.

Companies were visited by mystery shoppers from an independent consultant.

They were scored against a strict criteria, with the results giving an overall score that equated to a bronze, silver, gold or platinum ranking.

The rankings were revealed to 72 businesses at a presentation evening, supported by Mansfield Building Society, at Mansfield Library.

For the first time in the awards scheme’s five-year history, there were no businesses at bronze level.

Claiming silver were Mansfield Bus Station Service Desk, Futures, Ground Zero, Megabites Cafe, Poundbakery, Quality Shoe Repairs, The Garrison, The Green Dragon, and Vinyl Lounge.

Gold winners were 5 Star Tanning Lounge, Ann Summers, Barclays Bank, Bling Boutique, Booth Discount Furniture, Boots, Capo Lounge, Dorothy Perkins, Easy Barber, Everyday Loans, FA Henshaw, Games Emporium, Handley Arcade Antiques, Harmony health, Just 4 Mortgages, KH Hair, Mansfield Museum, Mansfield Shoe Repairs, Moss & Co, Music Scene, Need 2 View, Quiz, Sally Twinkles, Select, Superdrug, Swintons, The Beauty Chain, The Courthouse, The Mangrove, The Palace Theatre, The Shiny Spoon, The Village Activity Centre, and Wood Cafe.

Taking the top platinum award were Lash & Brow Bar, Bonmarche, Britalia, Collections, Duffy Opticians, Fidler & Pepper Lawyers, Four Seasons Service Desk, Game, Holland & Barrett, I Do Bridal, Inplace Personnel, Jak & Daisy, Laura Ashley, Leigh & Co, Lloyds Bank, Lucy’s Café, Mansfield Computer Store, Mansfield Building Society, Marks & Spencer, New Look, Pinders, Sky Retail Pod, The Glazey Place, The Nottingham, Thorntons, Vision Express, and Wilko.

Businesses received a certificate and a report of the scoring. They could also have one-to-one meetings with the authors of the report.

BID chief executive Nikki Rolls, who hosted the event, said: “Customer service is what helps to bring people back into our businesses and our town centre, so I cannot emphasise just how important it is to get it right.

“It was so pleasing to see that none of the participants got a bronze award, as it shows there are high levels of customer service being offered by our businesses.”

Mystery shoppers from Douglas Stafford Global visited businesses and scored them on criteria such as presentation, appearance, products, pricing and knowledge of the area.

There were a number of highlights in the scoring, including 15 top performers maintaining their 100 per cent score, 14 improving their scores, and nine new locations gaining 90 per cent or more.

A spokesman for the organisers added: “Overall, every open location had polite conversation with the mystery shopper, but one issue that needed improvement was upselling.”

Pictured are the Fidler & Pepper award winners.