Call centre rings up 700 jobs

The centre will work for blue chip companies

One of Scotland's fastest growing telecoms companies is to create up to 700 jobs at a call centre.

Telecom Services Centres (TSC) is investing £3.3m in the centre at Larbert, near Falkirk, which will provide services for blue chip customers.

The news provides a boost for unemployment blackspots in Clackmannanshire and surrounding areas and bolsters Scotland's name as the UK's prime location for call centres.

The sector employs more than 28,000 people in 170 centres.

TSC already has 1,000 employees in centres in Rothesay, Dunoon, Greenock, Livingstone and Glasgow.

The company has decided not to take government grants, although they were on offer.

Enterprise Minister, Henry McLeish, said: "TSC's announcement is good news for one of Scotland's fastest growing companies and exciting news for the Forth Valley.

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"It demonstrates a faith in the potential of the area to produce a highly skilled workforce and the right business environment."

Andrew Fulton, of Central Scotland Chambers of Commerce, said the growing number of call centre developments was a display of confidence in the local workforce.

It is the biggest single inward investment in the area.

He said: "There has certainly been a number of them created in the past couple of years.

"It does seem to be a trend and I think people are attracted to the level of service that our community is able to provide in this area.

"Imagine these people coming in with no grant. They must have total confidence in the area."

Customer surveys

The new centre will carry out customer surveys for the company's clients, which include the Royal Bank of Scotland, Vodafone and Tesco.

Last month, telecommunications company BT Scotland said it was creating 300 call centre jobs in the Highlands.

Alness was named as the headquarters for a £1m centre, offering 24-hour support for customers of BT's new Openworld internet service.

The Scottish sector has grown rapidly

BT said it was confident the jobs would help make the Easter Ross town the "call centre capital of the Highlands".

Scotland has experienced rapid growth in the number of call centres.

Mobile phone company One2One said in February it would be creating 500 jobs at call centres in Greenock, Inverness and Edinburgh.

Last October, travel giant Thomson Holidays announced the creation of 1,000 posts over the next two years at a new office in Glasgow.

The month before that, business services company Cogent Communications also announced plans for 1,000 jobs at a centre in Airdrie.

There are now more than 160 call centres employing a total of about 21,000 people in Scotland.