Improving comms and customer service

Boater Forums

In November 2024, we held the first of a series of National Boater Forums: online meetings where our customers can meet and talk to members of a range of different teams and find out more about areas of our work. Themes for these forums have included lock gate replacement, managing the waterways fairly, and fundraising.

In parallel, each of the six regions hold regular online and in-person forums focusing on issues affecting specific local areas, and the Disabled Boater Forum continues to provide a unique space for conversations and action on waterways accessibility.

Feedback from boaters describes the forums as open and informative, and 100% of respondents would recommend them to a friend.

Social media support

As part of our Better Boating Plan, we've enhanced our commitment to boater-focused communication by dedicating our efforts to the Canal & River Trust Boating social media pages.

With daily coverage now running seven days a week, we’re able to act as first response and triage your questions and comments more quickly to the relevant teams. Since April 2025, our Boating Facebook page has grown to over 18,000 followers, an increase of around 5,000, and our combined social media pages have generated nearly 3 million expressions, reflecting our focus on improving engagement and keeping boaters updated with information that matters most to them.

Our customer service

Lockie, our website-based AI chatbot, is helping customers quickly find the information they need. Lockie is constantly learning and becoming more efficient. In August 2025, Lockie successfully resolved over 74% of queries on its own, without the need to escalate to a human, showing how this tool is improving efficiency and making it easier for customers to get fast, accurate support.

In 2024-25, our customer service teams and partners took: 

• 108,294 calls
• 47,714 emails
• 4,068 live web chats

76% of customers were satisfied with how their query was dealt with, and 99.85% of our licensing related enquiries were resolved at first contact.

You can explore the full set of commitments and track our progress on our Plan for Better Boating webpages.