Scottish-based contact centre management specialist, Ascensos, has been revealed as the company opening a new customer service centre on the Isle of Wight, creating up to 600 new jobs.
It is known that the company’s operations will be located in Cowes, but the exact location has not yet been disclosed by the firm. However, Island Echo understands that the contact centre is to be located at the 40,000 sq ft Rangefinder House within the BAE Systems site on Newport Road.
The new facility will handle inbound telephone, email, social media and online queries. The company, which will be one of the Island’s largest employers, manages customer service enquiries for a range of blue chip retailers including the likes of Argos, BooHoo, B&Q, Game and Wickes.
Ascensos selected the Isle of Wight as the location for its new operation after a UK-wide search and due to the access the Island provides to a high calibre workforce; capital investment support from Isle of Wight Council; and support in recruitment, training and development from the Department for Work and Pensions and Isle of Wight College – as previously reported by Island Echo.
The company will be investing over £1million in the new facility and, at a meeting of Isle of Wight Council last week, elected members approved a capital investment of £2.1million in the initiative and a 10-year lease on the Cowes property, subject to the conclusion of legal discussions. The investment will help the Council to rationalise its own accommodation by transferring operation from 2 other leased buildings into the same commercial office premises. The Isle of Wight Council has valued the benefit of the project to the Island’s economy at £35million.
Work on the building is planned to start immediately to enable a planned opening in September 2017. Ascensos will also embark on a recruitment drive to ensure that the facility is fully staffed, with staff fully trained ahead of its opening.
John Devlin, CEO of Ascensos, said:
“This is a major strategic move for Ascensos, increasing our capacity by 30% and establishing our first UK facility outside Scotland. We’re excited to be coming to the Isle of Wight. The people, the financial assistance and the support in recruitment, training and development made for an unbeatable package.
Article continues below this advertisement “Ascensos is growing rapidly and we have become a force to be reckoned with in the UK contact centre sector. We’ve a reputation for doing things differently in this space and we look forward to opening Ascensos Isle of Wight after the summer.”
Lyle McLean will be Ascensos’ Operations Director on the Isle Wight. He said:
“We’re already in discussions with the DWP and Isle of Wight College and our recruitment campaign will get underway shortly. Ascensos is known as a great employer and we’ll be bringing the same approach to the Isle of Wight.”
Councillor Dave Stewart, Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, added:
“I am very excited that Ascensos has chosen the Isle of Wight as the location for its major UK expansion. The Island is already home to a number of major, global companies and is perfectly positioned to support the ambitions of Ascensos, with a motivated, skilled and enthusiastic local workforce. This move also promotes our ambitions of regeneration for the Island, to create a robust and dynamic local economy that will be sustainable now and in the long term for our future generations.”
Ascensos currently operates a single contact centre in Motherwell and 2 in Clydebank, along with operations in Boxtel in the Netherlands and Bucharest in Romania, employing a total of 1,200 staff. The Isle of Wight facility will be its first UK operation outside Scotland and, once fully operational, will make Ascensos one of the Island’s largest employers.
