OK. The ‘English State’ bit in the title was just a little prod at the EU Constitution we have been signed up to against our wishes. So scratch that. Couldn’t resist. So… moving on.

I may have mentioned this story before here but it doesn’t matter. Way back in the year 1987 I went to the USA on a business trip with 3 colleagues. I was the only one in the group who had been there before. At the end of the week, one of the guys remarked that he didn’t like what he basically referred to as the ‘false and fawning service’ you received from waiters/waitresses and shop assistants etc. All the “You’re Welcome’s” and the “Have a Nice Day’s” effortlessly said with a smile full of gleaming white American teeth annoyed him because, he said, they didn’t really mean it – it was just part of the job.

He was, of course, contrasting this with England where, at the time, you’d be lucky to get a shop assistant to even acknowledge your presence. If they actually talked to you it was a bonus and if they smiled? Well – forget that. They mostly never did. OK – so it’s a massive generalisation but anyone old enough to remember the 70’s and 80’s will recall that customer service was just something the English didn’t do. A waitress would bring you a cup of coffee and you could drink all of it except the copious amount she spilled all over you and the table. The girls on the check outs at the local supermarket never made eye contact. Just put out their hand for the cash although I guess it might have been different in Harrods.

My response to the colleague who seemed unable to accept decent customer service was that it didn’t matter if the girl in the shop appeared to be friendly, interested in him and his purchase and overly polite without necessarily meaning it. It made the transaction more comfortable and it was what the Americans demanded of their service industry. Everyone stays happy.

Another aspect of this was that English shops, cafes and public places, often looked and felt shoddy and dirty because people just didn’t seem to care. This was particularly true of small hotels which I remember as often being quite appalling.

And have things changed here in England. Mostly the answer is yes. We have become far more aware that a smile, a happy demeanour, eye contact and courtesy can go a very long way. There have been vast improvements. I spent yesterday at the NEC (the National Exhibition Centre) at Birmingham. I don’t know when the particular building I visited was built but it was started at the beginning of the ’80’s. Several things impressed me. Despite the thousands of people that pass through those halls and food areas every day, the whole place was spotless. It looked almost clinically clean and looked after.

Two incidents in particular impressed me. I was heading out the front doors (yes… to have a smoke) and was following an elderly lady riding an invalid scooter. I followed and watched as she mistook a large ceiling to floor window for an open door and ploughed right into it pushing the toughened glass as it splintered out by about a foot! I went to see if she was OK and was immediately joined by an official at the centre. And I left them to it and went out for my cigarette. What was impressive was that as I went back in, a van pulled up and two guys unloaded a large, pre-cut board ready to board up the broken window. Ten minutes after the incident it was made safe.

Later, strolling across the foyer, a young child dropped his cup of drink and like kids everywhere (and sadly many parents these days) he just abandoned the cup on the floor and walked off. Instantly, someone was there removing the cup and was on the walkie talkie demanding a cleaner come to the spot. And I do mean instantly. The guy seemed to materialise out of thin air!

It’s little things like that coupled with the fact that the check-out staff in my local Co-Op are really quite friendly that gives me hope that we are a last getting out service act together.