Personally, I am looking forward to a positive year ahead. We have the Queen’s Jubilee in June, the Euro 2012 football championships (which will be a great chance for Poland and Ukraine to be viewed in a positive light), followed by the Olympics in the UK. With all of these great events, our restaurants and retail stores have the ability to show both their customers and employees a fantastic time.

One great example of superior customer service is my local Italian deli: the busier the place, the happier everyone is. Nobody minds waiting a minute or two longer, because the service is worth hanging around for. The staff feels the benefit of the buzz they have created themselves—which is very much in line with the FISH! Philosophy from Seattle. The employees are empowered to provide the customer with a memorable experience and enjoy their jobs while doing it. (As a point of note, I saw a friend yesterday who lives in Canada. He’d never heard of the FISH! Philosophy but was very familiar with the actual fish stall at Pike Place Market. I asked him what he thought of it. ‘Phenomenal’ was the reply, just showing how hard-earned reputations spread a long way.)

 We commonly find ourselves more accepting of poor standards when things are busy (As an aside … why is this? Retailers knew Christmas was going to happen in December; shouldn’t they have prepared for more traffic so service doesn’t have to suffer?), but I think it would be beneficial to take notice of my deli. This place is taking the time to make sure the attributes they can control—such as service and product—are worth the wait.  

 2012 is going to be a fantastic year with lots of positives already scheduled to take place in the UK. Let’s reap the benefits and enjoy the success coming our way. It’d be a shame to be too British about it and find reasons to moan before we’ve even got going.