The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Employment
New Fife firm Vericall targets 400 staff
The entrepreneur who started VeriCall has revealed major expansion plans for the company’s new contact centre in Kirkcaldy, which opened its doors earlier this month.
The firm’s initial workforce in the Fife town is 34, but this figure could soar to as many as 400 in the next five years.
VeriCall managing director Adam Taylor said the local response to the company offering fresh job opportunities has been “phenomenal”.
He added: “On a wider scale, our opening in Kirkcaldy has generated a number of new business opportunities.”
Adam, who is from Fife, started V er iC all in London in 2017 to provide customer support for the pay-TV industry.
The firm has since won several contracts with directory-inquiry companies, which led to the need for the second site – and Kirkcaldy was chosen for the investment of around £2 million.
The managing director explained the gaps in the market he had spotted for VeriCall: “There were two aspects – the first is that most of the contact centres I have dealt with in my career do not put enough focus on sales training and techniques.
The ability to help companies maximise the revenue per customer contact is vital.
“The other aspect is that most established contact centres have a technology stack built 15 to 20 years ago.
They are often slow to adapt to new technologies and the changing contact landscape.
“I felt the time was right for a new player in the market to build a modern infrastructure to leverage the new contact platforms in a much more efficient way – securing the contact centre for the next generation.”
VeriCall has developed technology which makes it easier for customers to complete requests through social media.
Adam is the sole founder of the business, and he has a small group of financial backers from the telecoms industry.
He said the company is ahead of its plan for 2019 and has a strong pipeline for the next phase of growth.
“Our unique approach to training and customer-journey design has delivered significant results for our clients, leading them to refer us to other people in the industry – driving growth.”
The current VeriCall workforce between its locations in London and Kirkcaldy totals 52.
The senior management team will be based at the Scottish site from the third quarter of this year.
As regards his reasons for choosing Kirkcaldy for the new contact centre, the managing director said: “Having lived in Fife for 17 years and having a son at Levenmouth Academy, I was keen to bring something back to the local area and create employment opportunities for the next generation coming through.
“But also, in the process of identifying a new location, I visited a number of English and Scottish regional areas and Northern Ireland.
“I was struck by Fife Council’s desire to encourage business focused on new technologies to create new and modern employment opportunities which really gelled with my own vision. I am excited to work together with them to deliver this vision.”
VeriCall has received a £1 million regional selective assistance grant from Scottish Enterprise to set up the Kirkcaldy contact centre.
Adam expects his workforce in the town to have expanded to as many as 90 people by the end of this year, rising to more than 150 by the end of 2020 and jumping again to between 300 and 400 by late 2024.
Looking to the future, he said: “The biggest opportunities are with some of the developments we have made in social media – giving the ability to turn these from service to acquisition-andsales channels.
“We aim to open up new revenue streams for businesses – helping them, and us, to grow and scale rapidly.”