The news that Virgin Media has become the ‘least complained about broadband provider’, with a record low of five whinges per 100,000 customers, from being the most complained about just two years ago with seven times that amount, does not surprise me.

When I spoke to Nicola Green, chief communications and corporate affairs officer at Virgin Media O2, earlier this year, she explained that the company had embarked on a major internal campaign entitled Choose Customer.

From being totally customer-focused at O2, Green admits that Virgin Media O2 lost sight of the customer after its merger as it ‘became financially orientated’. But now, with the backing of chief executive Lutz Schüler, the company is pivoting.

‘I truly believe if we get this right, we’ll really differentiate. I think it’s starting but it won’t happen overnight,’ she explained. ‘Now every meeting starts with a customer story.’

But here’s the funny thing, ‘experts’ who boast that they help companies rebuild or improve their reputations, are missing the point. It’s the front line staff who do the heavy lifting. Whenever I’ve spoken to any consumer-focused company trying to rebuild reputation, it always starts with customer service.

Answering the phone on the first ring. Smiling. Being inquisitive. Going that extra mile for the customer. Delivering. It’s not rocket science, but it’s also not easy. ‘I’m trying to create a movement around the Choose Customer campaign where everybody is thinking about it every day,’ adds Green. ‘But it’s Choose Customer full stop. And that full stop is very important because that’s all we want you to do. Choose customer.’

Virgin Media O2 has also launched See it. Feel it. Fix it, with a Fix It list on which progress is reported monthly. ‘If you feel that a customer is annoyed, just go out and fix it,’ she explains. Indeed, on one of Green’s days working in store – she now is on the frontline every two months – she found that staff had to wait 10 days to raise a problem. No longer.

But excellent customer service can only go so far. The company also has to deliver on its promises. For example, with Virgin Media, the company started adding complimentary extra broadband boxes to ensure connectivity in every room.

‘It costs us more because we’re putting more boxes on the vans, but it saves the customer calling us back because they can’t get connectivity in their bedroom, and they work there every day,’ explains Green. ‘In the long run, the business case is there. It’s not doing things that costs more money, but it’s actually doing things that are more efficient and effective. And that requires a shift in thinking, but we’re slowly getting there.’

She adds: ‘We’re getting our mojo back. Definitely. I can feel it. It’s exciting. It gives me energy just seeing how things are working.’ Rebuilding reputation starts with a whimper (or a smile!) not a bang.

Cyber: it keeps the CEO awake at night

Here's a worrying fact.

If cybercrime were a country, it would be the world's third largest economy. And it's growing fast. Some reports suggest it could hit $23 trillion next year. It dwarfs the illegal global drug trade - so it’s going nowhere.

Here's another.

One in five British businesses was hit by a cyber-attack last year. For large businesses, that figure could be as high as 48 per cent, according to a new report from the UK government.

But it's not just the frequency that should alarm you. It's the impact.

Five per cent of attacked businesses reported losing revenue or market cap – more than double the figure from the previous year. Three per cent said it damaged their corporate reputation.

That last number is the one that should keep communications professionals up at night – because it's tripled in just 12 months. A year ago, just one per cent of cyber-attack victims thought their reputations had taken a hit.

In other words, the risk to your reputation is now growing faster than the risk to your balance sheet.

Phishing remains the most common form of attack, where employees click on a dodgy email or website, but hackers impersonating organisations or individuals represent 12 per cent while malware or ransom attacks constitute seven per cent.

While comms may not be at the front line of defence, it certainly has a role to play in keeping bad actors at bay - particularly when the biggest vulnerability in any company remains its people.

Our upcoming Cyber Unpacked offers advice, insights and practical skills to educate employees on cyber risks, real-life case studies on how to prepare and react to an attack as well as an understanding of the types of risk on the horizon.

We have an ethical hacker who can demonstrate how ‘easy’ it is to take on another persona – in other words, he’ll shock you! – and to cap it all, there’s a simulation by our friends at Polpeo to take you through a ‘live’ scenario.

All this for just £150+VAT.

It could be the best £150 you’ve ever spent!

Trust in bosses falls

The numbers are in... and it’s bad news for Britain’s bosses.

Just half of Britain’s employees actually trust their chief executives, according to IC Index 2026, The Reality Check, down from 59 per cent just 12 months ago. It’s an identical story for their organisations’ leadership teams.

The picture worsens for employees who don’t work in a setting where they are connected to a computer. Just 35 per cent of those working in warehouses, factories or on the shop floor, for example, trust their CEO or most senior leader.

In part, this is a reflection of the current environment. More than half of the 5,000 employees surveyed on behalf of IPSOS Karian & Box had seen restructuring within their organisations over the past 12 months, while 27 per cent had seen significant change. One third reported redundancies over the past year, up 12 percentage points.

The problem, according to the survey, is that 51 per cent do not believe that the reasons for change are being communicated clearly, while 14 per cent claim that they only find out about the news from a colleague (which admittedly is marginally better than the media).

The result is a workforce that feels neglected and confused. Just one in four employees claim they understand the rationale for change, while only 28 per cent believe companies are honest about the reasons.

But the risk, according to the survey, is that as restructures and redundancies increase, a ‘them’ and ‘us’ chasm could develop, as employees begin to feel that leaders do not understand the impact of the changes on them, and, consequently feel less protected.

It means they become less confident about the future of their organisations. As the report says: ‘When employees feel leadership is being transparent, when they understand the direction and reasoning behind it… confidence grows. When those things are absent, neutrality and doubt fill the space.’

If bad news has to be imparted, then the majority of employees want it to be communicated as soon as possible and as clearly as possible. It sounds simple but there’s a catch. One in five employees spends little or no time reading company news, while 28 per cent will spend up to five minutes a day.

As the report says, ‘employees are navigating an unprecedented volume of information across their personal and professional lives. The competition for attention is intense, cognitive load is real…’

Workers have switched off from company news because they are inundated with messages that have little relevance to them. It means they may be missing the important stuff. Maybe this is the time for CEOs to step up to the plate. To be visible. To share information in an accessible way. To be transparent and honest even when the message is tough. And to not - ever - describe colleagues as ‘lower value human capital’. For 8,000 colleagues who are now uncertain about their future, that’s an outrageous slap in the face.