700 North West Call Centre Jobs Under Threat
Webhelp which runs calls centres for Shop Direct have announced plans to close their sites in Bolton and
Up to 700 jobs are at risk at two North West call centres for home shopping retailer Shop Direct.
Webhelp, which operates the call centres on behalf of the company, said it is proposing to close a site in Bolton by next spring and shut its Aintree operation by spring 2017.
The decision is expected to mean Webhelp UK's workforce operating on the Shop Direct account will reduce from 1,162 to 470 over the next 18 months.
David Turner, chief executive officer of Webhelp UK, said: "Consumer behaviour is continuously changing and as a digital retailer on a journey to becoming world-class, Shop Direct needs to be confident it can continue to anticipate the ways in which customers will want to communicate with its brands in the future."
In a statement, Turner added consumer habits have been "changing very rapidly" in recent years and, although Shop Direct is still currently receiving "a huge percentage" of customer contact via traditional methods, customers are move onto digital channels.
Shop Direct chief executive Alex Baldock, said: "We set Webhelp the challenge of developing a customer service capability that would serve our customers' needs over the next decade.
"They have responded to that challenge by reviewing the estate they inherited from Serco and recommending the proposals that have been outlined to the trade union today.
"Change can be difficult but it is necessary and we are confident that the proposals outlined by Webhelp will ensure we can continue to develop the fantastic digital service our customers are telling us they expect from Shop Direct.”
Webhelp took over a ÂŁ209m "multi-channel customer experience" deal for Shop Direct last month. Despite the planned North West closures, it is proposed that there will be a Shop Direct centre of excellence established in Cardiff, with the remainder of operations being handled in South Africa.