TV giant tipped for call centre (From Western Telegraph)

TV giant tipped for call centre

Two broadcasting giants could be waiting in the wings to take over Pembrokeshires state-of-the-art media call centre.

BSkyB and the BBC are rumoured to be interested in the ITV Digital site at Pembroke Dock.

But staff will have to wait until Monday to hear with whom their future lies. On Monday, the administrators for ITV Digital were granted a further seven days by the High Court to negotiate a deal with the Football League.

Discussions with the League are said to be at a crucial stage, while its chief executive David Burns has publicly stated that he would be prepared to accept less than the £178.5 million ITV Digital owes it.

Nearly 1,000 staff work at the Pembroke Dock Call Centre, handling all the broadcasters customer inquiries.

Since ITV Digital went into administration four weeks ago they have been anxiously awaiting the April 15th deadline set by the High Court.

Monday was the day the administrator, Deloitte and Touche, was ordered to report back to the court on its progress.

Lawyers acting on its behalf were given an additional week to negotiate a solution acceptable to ITV Digitals parent companies, Carlton and Granada, and the League.

The decision will prolong the uncertainty among call centre staff, but TGWU regional organiser Danny Fellows doesnt expect one job to be lost.

There is nothing like this call centre in the UK. I would expect potential clients to be beating a road into Pembrokeshire if the worst happened, but the situation is that we are supporting the existing client as much as we can, he says.

We are in a win, win situation. I fully expect that every single person working at that call centre will keep his or her job.

There has been no comment from the companies rumoured to be interested in the site. But Manpower and 7C, which jointly manage it, say they are totally committed to exploring every option for the site and its workforce.

We will continue to support ITV Digital, its administrators and customers throughout this extension period and monitor carefully any new developments reported by the administrator, says their spokeswoman. We look forward to any early resolution of the negotiations so that the period of uncertainty we are all working in can be overcome.