Northwest contact centres report further growth

4th January 2006

SECTOR champion CallNorthWest has announced that contact centres in the region are bucking the national trend by experiencing further growth.

The industry body, which is backed by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, has been monitoring the progress of the sector over the past twelve months.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the sector was expected to grow by a further 8.2% this year matching last year’s growth.

However, project director of CallNorthWest, Christine Pye, believes this figure has been well exceeded making the industry worth an estimated £2billion to the region’s economy.

Christine said: “Since the inception of CallNorthWest, we have been monitoring the performance of the Northwest’s contact centres through salary levels, new companies establishing in the area and the growth of the current industry portfolio, including the number of jobs advertised.

“In March 2004 there were 2985 jobs advertised in Northwest job centres for customer service professionals and in October 2005 the number of jobs advertised jumped by 62 per cent to 4845. Coupled with staff turnover stabilising, this indicates amazing growth and opportunities for people leaving education, returning to work or people looking at a career change.

“The number of new centres setting up in the Northwest is also above the national average growth rate. With the support of the region’s centres and the NWDA we can demonstrate that the Northwest is a good place to sustain business.”