Party mood at call centre (From Western Telegraph)

Party mood at call centre

Balloons and streamers deck the offices at the ITV Digital call centre, Pembroke Dock. The party atmosphere is a bold message from the staff and management team.

Ninety per cent of all businesses who go into administration come out of the process as stronger, healthier companies, says Duncan Wilkes, UK managing director of 7C, the company responsible for operating the call centre site.

He is, of course, referring to the High Courts decision to appoint administrators to run the affairs of ITV Digital after the company admitted it could not honour its £315 million contract to screen football league matches.

The staff of nearly a thousand at Pembroke Dock only knew of the decision when it was headlined on the national media - the sensitivity of the financial markets precluded an announcement ahead of any statement.

Within 15 minutes, call centre director Cathy Corboy was briefing the Employee Consultative Group ahead of meetings with staff.

It is a period of uncertainty, but there is no hint of that at the call centre where the mood is surprisingly optimistic.

Cathy Corboy dismisses a suggestion that 7C is lining up a new client to take on the site if ITV Digital pulls out.

We still believe ITV Digital is a valuable client, we dont have a vacancy here, she says. Even if we had someone knocking on our door asking to be let in we couldnt entertain that idea at this point in time. We dont have any spare capacity.

ITV Digital signed a six-year contract in June 2000 to occupy the site. At that time it predicted 500 jobs but that number has already doubled. A further 300 will be created if construction of a third call centre building goes ahead as planned next year.

Duncan Wilkes admits ITV Digital, then known as ONdigital, was the only realistic contender for the site.

There were a couple of other clients we talked to, but ITV Digital was the only client able to offer the largest amount of business the quickest, it was going through a big growth curve, he recalls.

They were attracted by the world class facility, technology and workforce. That workforce, employed directly by Manpower, has had significant praise heaped on it since ITV Digital went into administration.

Manpowers contract manager at the call centre site, Debbie Rainbow, admits it is a challenging time for them but they had responded well to honest and frank updates. Recruitment is also on-going - potential employees are still applying for vacancies at the site.

No-one has left as a direct result of what has happened, which demonstrates a commitment to their jobs, she says.

A date those staff will have ringed in their diaries is next Monday, April 15th. That is the day when administrator, Deloitte and Touche, will report back to the High Court on its progress.

Until then the message coming from the call centre is loud and clear - it is business as usual and it dares anyone to challenge that!

Caption: Staff remain committed to the Pembroke Dock Call Centre say centre director Cathy Corboy, Manpower contract manager, Debbie Rainbow, site manager, Duncan Graham, 7C UK managing director, Duncan Wilkes, and director of Manpower Contact Centre Solutions, Peter McNarnara. They are pictured with staff, Les Clayton, Mark Shepherd, Paul Howells, Sarah Dempster, Keith Rees, Tracy Hackett and Deborah Thomas. Picture: Western Telegraph.