Staff assured over jobs in Indian sell-off

The Dearne Valley operations of call centre company Telecom Service Centres has been sold in a 40 million deal to Indian contact centre company Hero ITES.

Ken Hills, chief executive of TSC, which has 3,000 employees at nine UK sites, stressed the deal does not herald a shift of work from Britain to India.

“Let me make this clear. This is not about taking UK jobs to India,” said Mr Hills, who, along with other members of the TSC management team, retains a stake in the business.

“On the contrary, TSC’s clients have all made positive decisions to locate their operations in the UK whilst searching for additional services to compliment existing arrangements.

“We firmly believe there are aspects of the industry that can be handled off-shore and we already have experience of working relationships with companies in India and South Africa.

“Now we will be able to offer a greater range of products and services through this off-shore capability which will be managed by the TSC team.”

Chief operating officer David Ewing added: “Dearne Valley has been a fantastic success story for TSC. I look forward to our operations here continuing to provide a quality service as we look to the future.”

TSC started out on the Scottish island of Bute in the mid-90s and expanded quickly, with backing from LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds TSB Group in 2003.

TSC took over the former T-Mobile operation in the Dearne Valley in 2004, when it employed just over 300 people and there were suggestions those jobs were at risk.

The group has almost trebled the number of jobs there and now numbers Vodafone, T-Mobile, Hewlett-Packard, HSBC and HBOS among its clients.

The company has also increased its turnover from 29 million to 60 million since LDC started investing.

LDC has now sold its stake to the Hero Group, one of India’s top 10 business houses, with 20 subsidiaries, making everything from bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles to automotive parts and health equipment, and an estimated turnover of US$ 3.2 billion - 1.58 billion.

Hero ITES, founded in 2000, provides a range of services including training, offshore call centre and business process outsourcing services.

“It is a tremendous tribute to the standard of service TSC provides that a worldwide organisation like the Hero Group has become our majority shareholder,” said Mr Hills.

“Business, and as a result job security, has steadily increased since LDC became our major shareholder in 2003 with an additional 1,000 employees deployed across the UK. This is a great example of a private equity backed business creating significant numbers of jobs in the UK.”

LDC director Andrew McMurray said: “Extension of its capabilities to India is the next natural step for TCS.’’