The new owner of Ipswich-based call centre business Ansaback and sister company CallScripter says the move “offers significant new avenues of opportunity” for clients and employees.

Direct Response Contact Centres (DRCC), which is based in Bristol and already uses CallScripter software, acquired the two Suffolk businesses last month from IPPlus, which now plans to focus on its secure payments solutions arm PCI PAL.

DRCC, which, in a separate deal, also recently acquired GoResponse, a customer support specialist based in Kent, said the addition of the three businesses would make it “the leading independent digital multi-channel contact centre group in the UK”.

It added: “As a sign of confidence in the acquired businesses, and a belief that the two most important assets to a business are its people and reputation, there are no plans to change the executive management or employment structures of the acquired businesses.”

Ian Mitchell, group chief executive of DRCC, said: “These acquisitions represent a new and exciting phase in the continued development of our business.

“Uniting these companies creates the largest independent SME contact centre group in the UK, but most importantly we can open the door widely for organisations to easily embrace seamless multi-channel communications, business analytics and digitalisation. This offers significant new avenues of opportunity for both clients and our employees.”

Chris Robinson, founder and chairman of DRCC added: “We have an experienced management team, excellent employees and have built a blue-chip customer base with a well-deserved reputation for innovation and a reliable delivery of the highest-quality service. With this strategic investment and acquisitions in place the business is poised for continued growth.”

Announcing the sale of Ansaback and CallScripter last month, IPPlus chief executive William Catchpole said: “The opportunity to focus fully on PCI-PAL and the high growth market for secure payment solutions is a natural step for the business given the appetite that we are seeing in the market.”

Mr Catchpole and chief technical officer Geoffrey Forsyth will remain with IPPlus following the sale, but chief financial officer Stuart Gorden is transferring to DRCC.