EYE ON STAFF

 

Optical Express is planning to hire 200 more staff for its newly-opened call centre in West George Street, Glasgow.  Another 100 new jobs will be created in other parts of the business.

David Moulsdale, chairman and chief executive, who left school at 16 to work in an optician, founded the company in 1990.  It now has 2,700 staff in 10 countries.  Last year it opened 18 stores and plans another five or six this year.

 

HOLIDAY HIRES

 

Hoseasons is recruiting about 15 more staff for its 250-strong call centre at its Lowestoft HQ, citing rising demand for UK holidays.  It reports a rising in bookings through travel agents recently of more than 50 per cent and says that, on the busiest days, calls totalled more than 3,000 a day.

 

MOBILE BIRTHDAY

 

T-Mobile held a birthday ceremony to mark the 10th birthday of its call centre in Greenock — and the 1,000 staff were given free ice cream.

 

MORE PEOPLE

 

Seven Marketing has moved its HQ in Swansea and announced plans to hire 150 more people, adding to the 45 who already work in its call centre.

 

CALL CENTRE SPACE

 

Planners have given consent to convert the first floor of New Cross Centre, a shopping centre in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, into call centre premises which could house 200 staff.  The landlord, Elandome, made the application, and councillors were told that no tenant had yet been found for the space.

 

WHAT TO PLAY ON HOLD

 

Nearly three-quarters (71pc) of survey respondents reported that they like to listen to music on hold, of which 35pc were encouraged to hold for longer, half preferred music which was soothing or chilled out and 43pc liked uplifting or energising music.

The figures are from a survey of 2,000 UK adults carried out by Entertainment Media Research in March for MusicWorks, which is owned by licence issuers Phonographic Performance (PPL) and Performing Right Society.  PPL represents record companies and performers and PRS represents writers, composers and publishers.

 

JOB CALLS

 

Jobcentre Plus has hired Vertex to handle a proportion of the 100,000 calls each week to Jobseeker Direct.  Callers can request jobs in a chosen location and industry.  Once a suitable job has been found, agents give advice on how to apply and send out application forms or arrange and interview with the prospective employer.

 

HEALTH CALLS

 

Ofcom has begun a consultation over a non-emergency healthcare number, 111.  It has set out price options for the Department of Health: toll-free, 10p per call, 3p per minute or local or national rates.  At present, the service is being piloted in areas of England.

 

SALES SURGE

 

It was boys vs. girls when Kwik Fit Insurance held its second major sales day of 2009.  They took part in a number of physical and mental activities as well as being challenged on which team would make most sales.  At the end of the 12-hour contest, the boys triumphed.

With discounts negotiated with insurers, Kwik Fit reports selling new 1,300 new car policies — the fifth best day on record — and the second strongest day for sales of home insurance.

Alan Brown (pictured), director of operations, praised the team which negotiated the discounts and the dedication and hard work of the sales staff.

 

 

WORLD CALLS

 

CMC Markets, a London-based online financial trading company, has contracted to buy an IP telephony and call centre system which will link its 22 offices over 14 countries n four continents.   Due for completion next year, it will include voice recording and skills-based call routing.  It is being installed by Datapoint, using products from Avaya and Verint.