Worried savers make work for 2Touch call centres

Jan 22 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

CALL centre operator 2Touch is looking to add 250 jobs to its Sunderland workforce of more than 750 over the next three months as it expands to deal with a rise in calls to its clients in the financial services sector.

The 40-year-old call centre company at Doxford Technology Park, with a turnover of £14.4m, said it had been busier since the onset of the economic downturn, with anxious banking customers calling to check on their finances as well as how they are affected by Government bail-outs.

The firm, which is owned by London parent Acxiom, employs 496 people to handle its inbound and outbound calls as well as 245 people to carry out its warehousing and fulfilment operations on Wearside, its only centre.

HR director Yvonne Charlton said: “The downturn has been kind to us in that a number of our financial services customers are concerned about their personal finances at the moment, which is understandable.

“This influx of calls, as well as our ability to change our strategy, has provided us with a growth spurt.”

The new jobs come as Sunderland City Council gears up for its annual Contact Centre Recruitment Day at the end of the month, which could lead to the creation of hundreds more jobs.

The event, at Crowtree Leisure Centre on Thursday, January 29, will attract employers including T-Mobile and Barclays considering adding to the city’s 10,000-strong call centre workforce.

Fusion Contact Centre Services, which runs two call centres in Sunderland and Peterlee, is looking to add 33 to its 500 staff in the North East with the help of the event in order to extend its client list, which includes HSBC and Marks & Spencer.

Joanna Barnard, acting regional human resources manager (North) at Fusion, said: “We’re proud to be in a position to continue our recruitment at a time when so many other companies are announcing job cuts.

“It’s part of a planned expansion for the group, to cope with our increasing number of customers.”

Though there have been recent job cuts among the region’s call centres, including 90 jobs at Hartlepool’s Garlands Call Centres, others have supported their position in the North East.

The Listening Company, of London, pledged last October to create 1,000 jobs at its new offices in Newcastle by the spring, while The Respondez call centre in Hartlepool is aiming to create 400 jobs by 2010.

Peter Shields, knowledge intensive business services (Kibs) senior specialist at One North East, said: “Clearly, we have seen some parts of the North East call centre sector affected by the economic downturn, but there are still levels of growth, with Fusion and 2Touch good examples.

“Generally, over 2009 the sector will most likely remain buoyant despite the effects of the downturn, with some services such as outsource service provision remaining relatively strong.”