WebHelp UK which is contact centre services provider to Shop Direct has announced its plans to close its two north west facilities in Liverpool and Bolton and relocate the Shop Direct contract to its facilities in Cardiff and South Africa. This move is expected to lead to 700 job losses in the north west and is meeting with strong opposition from Usdaw which says that its affected members have already been through significant change. Many had originally been direct employees of Littlewoods, transferring to ShopDirect, and then to Serco when ShopDirect opted to outsource its call centre operation, then on to incumbent service provider WebHelp. Union officials are pressing for the UK jobs to remain in the north west but WebHelp is keen to press ahead with changes which will it says, meet Shop Direct’s demands for digital customer service options in addition to traditional call centre services.
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