SCOTLAND's largest call centre operator has been bought by Hero Group in a deal worth £40 million.
Telecom Service Centres, the Isle of Bute-based operator with more than 3,000 staff, mainly in Scotland, has been sold to the New Delhi-based Hero Group, and will now form part of the Hero ITES company and be renamed TSC Hero.
TSC chief executive Ken Hills yesterday insisted the move would not lead to any jobs being shifted offshore, and that the company's UK operations were targeting more growth. There would be very little change in the day-to-day activities of the company, he said.
“The change I'm looking for and the reason we wanted to do the deal was to get access to more capital from a longer-term strategic investor to help us on to the next level of growth, but day to day I don't think the guys will see a huge amount of change,” Hills said.
While UK companies have outsourced thousands of call centre jobs to countries such as India, recent years have seen many return the jobs to the UK, with research showing customer retention rates are much lower for companies that use foreign call centres. Some companies now promote the fact they use “UK only” call centres.
Hills said that while the business was founded on conscious decisions by its customers to operate in the UK where costs are higher, some functions could be effectively managed from offshore centres.
TSC already has formal relationships with some offshore centres. The latest deal increased its offering and could win further business, he said.
“Some of our clients already have offshore capability. What this allows us to do is provide them with services in the UK and offshore, with a facility that we manage and control, not just as a partnership with other companies,” Hills said.
Hero ITES already has more than 1,300 staff working in call centres near New Delhi.
The deal provides a strong exit for Lloyd's Capital Development, the private equity arm of Lloyds TSB Group, which backed a £28m management buy-out in 2003.
LCD director Andrew McMurray said the move with an offshore partner was “a natural step” for TSC.
“It has developed into a leading UK player and we believe that with the creation of TSC Hero, the company will enjoy even greater success in the UK and abroad,” he said.
Hills admitted there had been “some sale of shareholding” on the part of directors, though would not disclose the levels.
The management of the company will remain the same.
Formed in 1994, the company has ten “contact centres”, nine of which are in Scotland.
In the latest accounts available, TSC made an operating profit of just under £3m on turnover of 49.3m.
Source: Sctosman