Egg to create 1,500 jobs

Egg says it now has more than a million customers

Internet bank Egg has announced it is building a new call centre in Derby, creating 1,500 jobs.

Building started this week, and the first 400 staff will be recruited towards the end of the year.

The centre should be running at half-capacity by next April.

The e-bank, owned by the Prudential, already has a call centre in the city, with another in Dudley near Birmingham.

Pre-tax loss

An Egg executive said that the bank had been planning the new facility "for some time" and had decided on the Derby site three months ago.

Launched by Prudential in October 1998, Egg floated on the London Stock Exchange as a separate company in June this year, although the life assurance company still owns 80% of it.

Its original float value was £1.3bn, but its shares have since fallen from their 160p debut price to stand at 119p.

Last week, the company announced a pre-tax loss of £80.7m for the first six months of 2000. However, it said its customer base was growing and now stood at 1.1m.