Thus will later this month sell its contact centre
business, reflecting the tough market operators are facing as a
result of companies outsourcing their contact centre business to
low-cost countries like India.
Thus is selling its loss making contact centre business to
market specialist Response Handling for £1.75m, allowing it to
concentrate on core operations such as broadband provision to
businesses.
The Thus contact centres provide outsourced inbound and outbound
calling capability to a wide variety of major companies based in
the UK, and Response Handling will now pick up these
contracts.
The Thus contact centres employ 1,000 people and transfer
details are yet to be finalised with staff.
Turnover for the contact centres was just £21.7m for the year
ending
31 March 2004, compared to £24.6m the previous year. The division
made a loss before tax of £1m last financial year.
William Allan, Thus chief executive, says, “This disposal will
sharpen our focus on our key growth areas of data services, and it
protects the best interests of our customers, ensuring business
continuity and quality of service.”
This article was part of Computer Weekly's managed services
business channel, sponsored by Computacenter.