Council's hopes for call centre (From Western Telegraph)

Council's hopes for call centre

Pembrokeshire County Council is 'cautiously optimistic' of attracting a new operator to the Cleddau Bridge Call Centre, the authority's chairman told members on Thursday.

Describing the withdrawal of Vertex with the loss of 223 jobs as 'more bad news', following the grievous blow of the 160 Dewhirst job losses in Fishguard, Councillor Leslie Raymond said: "I am sure it will be a gloomy Christmas for so many of those poor people affected by these closures. Our thoughts are with them at the moment.

"However, sympathy is not enough. The council is working very closely with our partners, including, among others, the National Assembly and the Welsh Development Agency (WDA), to attract new businesses to the centre."

He added: "The call centre is a world-class facility. When ITV Digital closed their operation there, we and our partners were restricted as to who we could do business with.

"Those restrictions no longer apply and the county council and the WDA will be marketing the centre aggressively over the coming weeks and months.

"We are also working closely with the Assembly to develop plans for Fishguard and the north Pembrokeshire area."

Cabinet member for Economic Regeneration, Councillor John Allen-Mirehouse, commented: "I am bitterly disappointed about the announcement. I hope in time that it will be put right. There is no quick fix but we are on our way to several small fixes which I can't discuss at this stage because of commercial confidentiality."

MP Jackie Lawrence said that in principle the Vertex withdrawal may hold better long-term prospects.

"During the months since the collapse of ITV Digital, we have been told that many companies have been attracted by both the modern facilities and the skilled workforce in Pembrokeshire. The problem in a significant number of cases has been that these companies simply do not wish to 'outsource' their operations.

"The WDA are now working directly with Manpower to contact some of these companies again. Instead of relying on contract work this may mean the establishment of permanent long-term arrangements. In my view that would be a much better prospect for the area - permanent, long-term commitment by a company rather than a succession of short-term contracts."