The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
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Supermarket giant Tesco employs around 1,300 people at its customer engagement centre in Dundee’s Baird Avenue – a figure that has risen substantially over the years.
The company opened the facility in 1996 with a team of 100 fresh recruits – 30 of whom are still employed at the centre today.
With the responsibility of projecting Tesco’s official voice to its customers, the site deals with multi-platform inbound customer contact – via phone, email, social media and letter.
Its team also helps customers on service matters, supporting a total of 8.5 million Tesco users across Scotland and the wider UK each year.
Part of a global Tesco business services contact centre network, the Baird Avenue complex offers a mix of full-time, part-time and temporary roles to suit all needs and schedules, including around 200 support roles.
Corrie MacNab, head of operations at Tesco’s Dundee customer engagement centre, said: “Our dedicated call handlers and customer service advisers assist our customers with everything from queries about our stores and products, to Tesco Clubcard and home deliveries, while our support roles include areas such as resource planning, IT and product support.
“People might not immediately think of us when they think of Tesco, but we offer a wide range of opportunities for the workforce here in Dundee.”
The centre has employed generations of the same families, including longserving Michelle Duchan. “I joined the team almost 20 years ago as a part-time customer service manager, where I worked alongside my mum and fitted my job around my young family,” Michelle said.
“I have enjoyed a number of roles across training and development, business partnering and resourcing over the years, before taking on my post as senior operations manager.
“I’ve seized lots of opportunities and now my son has joined the team, and I hope he will do the same.”
The centre underwent a significant refurbishment in 2018. The multimillion-pound cash injection saw the addition of further work space capacity, alongside a subsidised colleague gym in partnership with Nuffield Health, and a subsidised Costa coffee house.
Meanwhile, more than 250 new permanent roles have been created at the location over the last year.
Rob Graham, group customer experience and operations director at the site, said: “Our centre is an important part of our wider Tesco community.
“For customers, we are often the voice of the business, a role we carry out with great pride.
“First and foremost, we are here to support our customers, but we are also able to deliver key insights back to the business based on these interactions. This helps inform our approach and ensure that we are delivering the worldclass service our customers deserve.
“As a business, it’s important to be constantly evolving and trying to deliver a more effective and efficient service.
“Central to all of this are our colleagues, and we are delighted to have been able to invest significantly in our centre in recent months, adding new facilities and services.”