Contact centre set to double its turnover
A HARTLEPOOL contact centre operator is set to double turnover to more than £3m and create 100 jobs following a string of new contract wins.
After securing work from three international clients - two retailers and a wholesaler - Respondez is gearing up for rapid expansion and is aiming to create 400 jobs in the next 18-24 months.
The new positions will include team leaders, training resource, account management and inbound call centre advisors.
Sue Marshall, sales and marketing director at Respondez, said the recent wins were part of a “masterplan” to employ 500 staff by 2010.
She said: “The pipeline we have, the way we are working, we should reach that. The people at management level are very experienced, so we are credible with the people we are talking to.
“Our biggest challenge is driving business. When we win it, we can do it.”
Respondez provides technical support services and handles in-bound and outbound sales calls on behalf of clients.
The company is part of the Indian owned Spanco Telesystems and Solutions, which has call centres with more than 4,000 seats across the UK, US, India, Singapore and the Middle East.
Ms Marshall, who joined the company from call centre operator Teleperformance last November, said: “This has been a truly successful year for Respondez so far. Around 18 months to two years ago, this business was acquired by Spanco and they set out to stabilise the business.
“We have brought in new processes and new people, and refurbished the contact centre to tidy things up. Now the workforce will double in size by October.”
The company is also embarking on a drive to train staff on areas such as telephone etiquette and specific information on client products.
Staff also offer a multi-lingual service for customers in French, German and Italian.
The staff in Hartlepool work on shifts covering 24 hours a day but calls can be routed anywhere in the world as and when requested by clients.
Respondez, which also works on behalf of charities and a telecommunications firm, said one of its key strengths was in the burgeoning gaming sector. The company provides services for Ubisoft, Vivendi and Take2 and recently has been responsible for supporting the new Grand Theft Auto 4 game.
