Nationwide expands its UK call centre operation

Nationwide Building Society has announced its intention to expand its UK call centre operation.

The Swindon based call centre, one of five the Society has in the UK, will see 200 additional jobs and will move to new, purpose built premises within the town1. While many financial services organisations have sent their call centres overseas, Nationwide has bucked the trend and reaffirmed its commitment to UK based call centres.

In addition to this new call centre, which will become operational next Spring and have 600 employees by 2010, since 2002 the Society has opened three new centres in Wakefield, Sheffield and Swansea and refurbished its centre in Northampton.

Over recent years the number of UK organisations sending their call centres overseas has increased. It’s estimated that around 17,0002 UK financial services call centre roles are now based abroad. Despite the increase in call centre jobs being sent overseas and the investment made by companies to set up new centres, consumers aren’t happy that jobs are being outsourced. Research3 by Nationwide shows:

93% of people believe it is important that their calls are handled by a call centre based in the UK
79% of people say they would be less likely to deal with a company that used call centres abroad
52% of people say they would change to another provider if they found their main bank or building society had started using a call centre abroad.

Additionally, more than seven out of 10 adults (74%) prefer call centres in the UK as they believe:

they get better service
it’s better for the UK economy
their calls are answered quickly and efficiently.

Mik Hodsdon, Nationwide’s call centre director, says: “We handle around a million calls every month and this expansion will help us better meet the needs of our members whilst also providing additional employment in the communities in which we operate.

“Whilst many of our competitors see their overseas call centres as successful and often more cost effective, some have brought their functions back to the UK as they believe customer service may improve. At Nationwide, our relationship with our members is core to our business and isn’t something we would wish to export overseas. We listen to our customers and pledge to provide the products and services they expect over the long-term and it is important to them that we keep our call centres based in the UK.”