Call centre celebrates first birthday in style (From Western Telegraph)

Call centre celebrates first birthday in style

Pembroke Dock's call centre celebrated its first anniversary in style last week.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan returned to the Cleddau Bridge Business Park - dubbed Cyber Bay - for the celebrations. He had first visited the site a year ago when the partnership with ITV Digital (then ONdigital) was announced.

He said: 'It is truly heartening to see the phenomenal growth that's taken place over the past months. I cannot think of another project in Wales that has created nearly 1,000 jobs in a year.'

In that year, the customer contact centre has answered four million calls from clients across the country and now employs over 1% of Pembrokeshire's working population.

It has been further boosted by the on-schedule completion of the second building, along with the re-branding of ONdigital to ITV Digital.

The centre was the result of a bold venture between Pembrokeshire County Council, which invested £1.2 million, and the Welsh Development Agency

Last week representatives from the county council, the Welsh Development Agency, Training and Enterprise Council and the National Assembly, joined Manpower, 7C and ITV Digital to toast the centre's success.

Karen Richardson, ITV Digital's director of customer services and operations, said: 'We became part of a big movement in television history when we joined ITV to become ITV Digital. Our staff here have embraced our growth and changes with real enthusiasm and flexibility, and they will continue to play a significant part in our future success.'

Employee Jenny Hill, of Pembroke Dock, returned the thanks, on behalf of the staff.

She said: 'We've seen huge changes in the last few years as many traditional sources of employment have disappeared or moved away. We commend the initiatives that brought the centre to our area and we are proud to be part of this vision. The future prosperity of Pembrokeshire is in our hands.'

Celebrations at the site included a full day of events for employees ending in a fireworks display.

Caption: Above: Part of the spectacular fireworks display which marked the first birthday of the Cyber Bay call centre.

PICTURE: Martin Cavaney Photography.