Jobs at risk as Shop Direct outsources call centres

SHOP Direct Group, the Liverpool-based home shopping retailer, has announced a major outsourcing deal with Serco, which will see 1,800 staff transferred over and is likely to lead to 1,000 redundancies.

The proposals will see 1,800 Shop Direct staff move over to Serco on July 1, but  could lead to around 1,000 redundancies as Serco plans to close contact centres in Preston and Worcester, and off-shore some of the roles.

Neither site will be closed for at least a year, a spokeswoman for Shop Direct told TheBusinessDesk.com.

Call centre staff based at Aintree and Bolton will be affected by the deal, with 600 of the 1,000 Aintree staff and around 250 of the 550 at Bolton, moving over to Serco under TUPE arrangements.

Shop Direct said volumes to its call centres had slumped in recent years as more customers shop online.

It said the deal with Serco would allow it to enhance service levels and improve efficiency as a result of Serco’s planned investment in the latest technology, which is designed to seamlessly integrate online and mobile into customer contact centres.

Mark Newton-Jones, chief executiive of Shop Direct Group said: “The ways in which customers are shopping with us, contacting us and servicing their accounts have changed rapidly, driven by revolutionary advances in digital and interactive technology.

“Unfortunately, this will mean a need for far fewer people to be directly involved in customer contact in the future.

“We have chosen to work with Serco as they are an acknowledged leader in the field. Serco’s expertise, coupled with their investment in technological innovation, will ensure that we have a customer contact programme that is flexible and adaptable for the increasingly online and mobile world that we live in.”

Christopher Hyman, Serco’s chief executive added: “We are pleased to have been selected by Shop Direct Group to deliver their customer contact programme.

“Serco will bring its significant expertise in contact service delivery to Shop Direct, further improving the customer experience through investment in technological innovation and increased efficiency.”