There has good news for hundreds of call centre workers in Greenock. 200 staff lost their jobs four months ago when the plug was pulled on the Telecom Services Centre in the town. Now the company has landed a major contract with BSkyB, allowing the site to re-open.
The company - HEROtsc - Scotland's biggest contact centre firm, had to close the Greenock call centre when their client moved their call centre operations overseas. The company also runs an operation in Falkirk, employing over 300 people, which was saved.
Bosses promised they would work tirelessly to land new business and would re-open their Greenock site as soon as that happened.
They have now secured additional business to the work they already do for Sky – meaning a return to full operational status for the Greenock site and an increase in the number of staff at their Falkirk site.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer David Turner said: "It was a very sad day when we had to tell our staff there was no work for them," he recalls. "We had a strong and loyal workforce in Greenock and I knew how devastating the news must have been.
"I wished I could have waved a magic wand and found replacement jobs straightaway but that is not how it works in this industry – particularly during touch economic times.
"But we said we would work round the clock to bring new business here and that's what happened. Our sales team have delivered and I would like to thank them for their efforts."
He added: "Now our next task is to get the centre back up and running as quickly as possible and our staff starting the training programme to learn the skills and knowledge that they will need to perform their usual HEROtsc top quality, professional role for our new clients"
Sky’s Director of Service, Kerri-Anne Miller said: "We are very pleased that this extension to our relationship with HEROtsc has meant more jobs for Falkirk and the re-opening of their Greenock site."
The company will now begin recruiting almost 400 staff, and will start by contacting former Greenock employees to ensure that the operation is up and running as quickly as possible.
