Call centre to take on 150 ‘retainer’ staff

A BUSINESS call handling centre has won a major contract with a utility company which will create 150 “retainer” posts at the company.

Ansaback, which is based at The Havens, on Ransomes Europark in Ipswich, said the contract was likely to last for three years and involves taking on extra staff able to turn out at short notice to provide emergency cover when there are high volumes of calls due to outages, or incidents.

The company said it could not name the firm, other than to say it was a large utility company.

Managing director Christian Pawsey said it was new territory for the company, which already employs 220 staff to man its round-the-clock call centre service.

“It’s a retained working position. It’s not what we normally do. it’s something new for us. It’s also quite a lot of people so it’s also quite exciting, and a good opportunity for some people to earn some extra money,” he said.

“What we are hoping is it will suit people who wan to earn extra money.”

The posts could suit a range of people, from full-time workers wanting to supplement their incomes, to retired people, students and others seeking an extra income source, he said.

Successful candidates will undergo paid training, and will be paid an annual retainer.

“It’s fairly basic work,” he said. “There’s a bonus payment at the end of the year and a salary paid throughout the year for them to be available and they are paid for the training.”

For more details, visit the company website at www.ansaback.co.uk/careers.