International call centre opens in SA, offers 1000 jobs

L - R: David Turner, CEO of Webhelp UK, Craig Gibson, CEO of Webhelp SA

The Webhelp Group has revenues in excess of 370 million Euros, with 35 centres serving more than 100 clients across the world. The South African venture will give the company the ability to service international contracts, operating a blended onshore and offshore model from the site.

Craig Gibson will join Webhelp South Africa as CEO. He has significant experience in the customer management sector as during his 20-year career he has been responsible for establishing Vodacom's retail presence in South Africa, growing Ernst & Young's JD Edwards enterprise resource planning (ERP) practice and creating demand at Dimension Data's Customer Interactive Solutions among a range of blue chip financial institutions.

David Turner, CEO, at Webhelp UK, said, "This represents a significant milestone in the continued development of our business, by giving us the ability to support our customers across multiple geographies and is complementary to our existing English language, eastern European, near shore locations.

"We have seen a trend over the last 12 to 18 months of organisations repatriating work from other offshore locations such as India and the Philippines as a result of poor customer experience.

"All of our research tells us that SA can deliver an equivalent customer experience to the UK for certain processes. We firmly believe that our UK, Romanian and South Africa capability gives us the best possible blend of off, near and onshore capabilities."

Peter Ryan, industry analyst at Ovum, said, "The similarity of the professional qualifications and the compatibility of the data protection laws make South Africa an excellent partner location for the group's UK operation. The country is particularly attractive because, alongside a stable regulatory environment, there is a talented workforce with high standards of customer experience knowledge."

Gibson adds, "South Africa successfully delivers BPO services to the domestic markets of Australia and the UK. The language and culture of these countries is closely matched, enabling us to offer a far higher standard of customer service than some traditional BPO markets such as India and the Philippines.

"The arrival of the Webhelp Group in South Africa is another great development for the BPO industry in the country. In recent years, we have seen some big brands choose South Africa and the country is establishing itself as a BPO destination of choice. I am delighted to lead the new company and be part of such a progressive global organization."