Scots call centre operator opens South African arm

a CaLL centre operator based in Scotland is expanding into South africa with the creation of 1,000 jobs.

Falkirk-based Webhelp UK will open bases in Cape town and Johannesburg as part of efforts to win international work.

Webhelp UK chief executive David turner and his management team in Scotland have overseen the expansion.

French group Webhelp bought HerotSC in February for €90 million (£77m) and rebranded it as Webhelp UK.

the company, which employs some 3,000 people north of the Border, was created in 2007 when Hero paid £40m for telecom Service Centres (tSC).

the firm – which lists Sky and vodafone among its clients – has bases in Dunoon, Falkirk, Glasgow, Greenock, Kilmarnock and rothesay, along with a further 3,000 workers at three sites in england. recent contracts won by the company include work for Mobile by Sainsbury’s, Now tv and photoBox.

turner said: “all of our research tells us that South africa can deliver an equivalent customer experience to the UK for certain processes.

“We have seen a trend over the past 12-to-18 months of organisations repatriating work from other offshore locations such as india and the philippines as a result of poor customer experience.”

Webhelp UK quoted peter ryan – an industry analyst at market research firm ovum – as saying: “the similarity of the professional qualifications and the compatibility of the data protection laws make South africa an excellent partner location for Webhelp UK.

“the country is particularly attractive because, alongside a stable regulatory environment, there is a talented workforce with high standards of customer experience knowledge.”