Nic Welsh Announced as Sponsor of the Customer Excellence Award
With the finalists for The Class Business Awards 2026 now officially announced, the excitement is building as we move towards Awards Day in October.
I’m delighted to welcome Nic Welsh, founder of The Stripey Elephant, as sponsor of the Customer Excellence Award.
This category celebrates the businesses that make people feel valued at every stage of the customer journey. The ones that understand great customer experience is not just about delivering a brilliant class. It’s about what happens before, during and after the session, and how every interaction makes someone feel.
Because people may forget some of the finer details, but they rarely forget whether they felt welcomed, supported and genuinely cared for.
Why the Customer Excellence Award Matters
The Customer Excellence Award is open to all class-based businesses, including independents, franchisees and studio owners.
It recognises businesses that have created thoughtful, consistent customer experiences that strengthen trust, encourage loyalty and give people a reason to keep coming back.
Judges will consider how each business approaches:
- Customer care, communication and feedback
- Retention and long-term loyalty
- Systems that support a smooth customer journey
- The way customers are welcomed and valued
- Experiences people feel excited to recommend
Great customer experience rarely comes from one dramatic gesture. More often, it is built through small, deliberate moments.
It might be the instructor who notices that someone is nervous and helps them settle in. It could be a warm welcome at reception, a simple booking process or a thoughtful follow-up after a session. These moments may seem small, but together they shape how customers experience a business and whether they want to return.
Now that this year’s finalists have been announced, the Customer Excellence Award is already shining a spotlight on businesses that are doing exactly that.
Why Nic Welsh Is the Perfect Fit
Nic founded The Stripey Elephant after 20 years working in financial services management.
During that time, she saw businesses become so focused on process, paperwork and securing the next sale that the human side of the customer experience was gradually lost. Customers began to feel like numbers, while businesses often believed they were delivering a much stronger experience than the one people were actually receiving.
The Stripey Elephant was created to close that gap.
Nic works with people-focused businesses to create customer experiences that feel warm, personal and genuinely worth talking about. Her approach is built around the WOW framework:
- Welcome: making every person feel that they belong from the moment they arrive
- Ownership: taking full responsibility for every stage of their experience
- Worth Sharing: creating moments customers naturally want to tell other people about
Her work begins with listening. Nic takes time to understand each business, its customers and the experience it currently provides before identifying what should be strengthened, simplified or left behind.
Her belief is simple: customer excellence does not need to be complicated, but it does need care, consistency and attention.
Speaking about sponsoring the award, Nic said:
“Customer excellence doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when a business genuinely cares about the person in front of them, not just the transaction.
“The class activity world is full of people who got into this because they love what they do and love the people they do it for. This award exists to celebrate that and I am excited to sponsor it because recognising businesses that put people first is exactly what The Stripey Elephant is all about.”
Why The Class Business Awards Exist
The Class Business Awards were created to celebrate the people and organisations shaping the UK’s class-based business sector.
These businesses do far more than fill timetable slots. They help people learn, build confidence, improve their wellbeing and find communities where they feel they belong.
The Awards provide a year-long platform for recognition, visibility and storytelling, shining a light on the work happening behind the scenes as well as the impact delivered in every class, club and activity.
Now that the finalists have been revealed, the next chapter is all about celebrating their stories and building towards what promises to be an unforgettable Awards Day.
Celebrating Businesses That Put People First
Customer experience can be the difference between someone attending once and becoming part of a community for years.
When customers feel welcomed, understood and cared for, they do not just return. They recommend, share and become some of the strongest advocates a business could have.
That is why Nic and The Stripey Elephant are such a natural fit for the Customer Excellence Award. Her work is rooted in helping businesses create experiences that feel human, thoughtful and worth sharing.
To learn more about Nic’s approach to creating WOW customer experiences, follow The Customer Experience Pro on Instagram at @the_customer_experience_pro.
You can also visit The Class Business Awards website to meet the 2026 finalists and book your ticket for Awards Day on Saturday 10 October 2026.
