Small call centres in villages please their clients and staff

Mar 19 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

ARURAL business that runs small call centres based on the Scandinavian model is creating 30 jobs as it moves its headquarters and opens a string of new offices in the North East.

Entrepreneur Maureen Stanton is transferring her multimedia call centre On Net Communications from its Wolsingham headquarters because the site is due to close and the land has been earmarked for housing. The new head office will be at Eastgate Renewable Energy Village in nearby Crook.

Ms Stanton said: “We chose to base the company in Weardale to create new local employment opportunities and now employ more than 70 people from across the area, but having now been unable to find anywhere suitable to move to, we are, very reluctantly and hopefully only temporarily, having to leave the dale.

“The technological and commercial aspects of the Eastgate proposition fit perfectly with companies such as On Net and would help create new sustainable employment opportunities, thus giving people the chance to look forward to new commercial opportunities.”

The business is aiming almost to double in size by next year as demand from customers grows and new, small call centres are opened.

The latest – employing four people – has just been launched in Coundon and another, which will create 11 jobs, is due to open at Tow Law at the end of the month. Ms Stanton also has small offices in Willington and Bishop Auckland in her sights.

She said: “We have a central hub with all the technology and small linked call centres so people can live in their own areas and they don’t have to travel. I live and work in the dale.

“The idea here is based on Finland and Sweden, where the call centres there are very small and based in villages. For us, it was the only way we wanted to do it.”

On Net provides inbound call answering services for various businesses, ranging from “the man in the white van”, to small firms and larger charities.

It also makes outbound market research calls on behalf of clients such as hospital trusts and local and national government departments.

Ms Stanton, whose background is in recruiting staff for larger call centres, started On Net Communications when a number of businesses were starting to outsource their call centre work to India, which led some people to query her timing.

However, she was confident customers would return to the UK and says providing high quality customer service and “doing it right” has ensured continued expansion, particularly on inbound calls.