Second centre for Fusion

Mar 13 2007 By The Journal

About 600 jobs are being generated thanks to setting up of a call centre in County Durham.

Fusion Contact Centre Services, part of the Budget insurance group, is opening in Peterlee in the former Orange mobile phone building. The company said it needed the extra capacity to cope with expansion across its business, which includes not only Budget-branded insurance policies, but also providing products for well known names including Marks & Spencer, Bradford & Bingley, and Debenhams.

Fusion already operates a call centre in Sunderland employing 350 staff, as well as centres in Peterborough and Coventry.

The company also uses a centre in Cape Town, South Africa, to handle UK off-peak periods.

Fusion says the success of its Sunderland operation played a major factor in the decision to open a second site in the region.

Mike Sherwood, associate director of operations development for Fusion , said: "The opening of a new contact centre in Peterlee is not only fantastic news for Fusion , but also a huge vote of confidence in the people of our region.

"This is a marvellous opportunity for new and existing employees to be part of the next phase in the development of our business and it gives us great pleasure to be announcing plans for further expansion to the Bracken Hill Business Park."

Mark Lloyd, chief executive of Durham County Council, said: "Fusion's choice of this first-rate location clearly endorses the county council's original decision to create at Bracken Hill a new and much-needed kind of business accommodation for the county."