CALL centre operator Ascensos is set to become one of the biggest employers on the Isle of Wight after revealing plans to create 600 jobs on the island with a new customer service centre.
The move marks the Motherwell company’s first expansion in the UK outside of Scotland. Ascensos currently operates two centres in Motherwell and one in Clydebank. When combined with facilities in the Netherlands and Romania, the group currently employs 1,200 staff.
Having posted revenue of £3.5 million in 2015, Ascensos more than doubled this to £10m in 2016 and chief executive John Devlin projected this would more than double again, to £23m this year.
He said the company would reach profitability this year, and the scale of its growth illustrated exactly why the business needed more capacity.
“Ascensos is growing rapidly and we have become a force to be reckoned with in the UK contact centre sector,” he said. “Most [in our sector] look in the big cities around the UK, but we are trying to stretch that model and do something different.”
Mr Devlin said the company selected Cowes as the location for its new centre after scouting the entire UK, having received significant financial backing from the local council.
“We made our first acquisition in Europe last year and we’ve been looking for a centre to provide additional capacity in the UK,” said Mr Devlin. “We looked in Scotland, looked across different regions in England and the Isle of Wight solution was a very compelling one.”
Ascensos will invest more than £1m in the new facility and, the Isle of Wight Council has approved a capital investment of £2.1m in the initiative and a ten-year lease on the Cowes property.
In addition to the capital investment support, Mr Devlin highlighted that Ascensos would also receive support from the Department for Work and Pensions and Isle of Wight College, which would benefit communities on the island.
“It’s a great place to live and work and for young people there are little alternatives when they leave college or school other than looking for a job on the mainland, so I think we can help the community on the Isle of Wight keep young people working where they live,” he said.
Mr Devlin added that Ascensos’ business peaked in the four months from September, which complemented the earlier peak of the tourist season on the island.
The Cowes facility will handle inbound telephone, email, social media and online queries as the company takes on additional work from existing clients that include Argos, B&Q, Coast, Game, Karen Millen, Oasis, Warehouse, and Wickes.
Isle of Wight Council has valued the benefit of the project to the Island’s economy at £35m.
Councillor Dave Stewart, leader of the Isle of Wight Council, said has was “very excited” by the plans. “The island is already home to a number of major, global companies and is perfectly positioned to support the ambitions of Ascensos, with a motivated, skilled and enthusiastic local workforce,” he said, adding that the move would help council plans to create a “robust and dynamic” long-term local economy.
Work on the new-build facility is due to start immediately to enable a planned opening in September 2017. Ascensos has embarked on a recruitment drive to ensure that the facility is fully staffed, with staff fully trained ahead of its opening.
The business was founded in 2013 by former beCogent directors, Mr Devlin, Dermot Jenkinson and Katrine Young, after they sold the business to France’s Teleperformance for £35m.
In July it opened a centre in Clydebank, creating 350 jobs, after winning a major contract with B&Q. In September 2016 it acquired Dutch rival HECC, to expand its geographic presence.
And Mr Devlin said further capacity would follow in the next year.
“We’re a rapidly growing business at the moment, very successful at what we’re doing,” he said. “We are winning client contracts on a frequent basis, we’re delivering a service to existing clients that allows us to grow with them, so we’re very confident of growing further, and I’d expect to see more capacity coming on in the next 12 months.”
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