HULL'S Kingston Communications has lost out on a new city council call centre contract.
The 300300 service has been delivered for the council by KC's Contact Centres division since its launch in 1999.
But yesterday, the council's cabinet agreed to award a new three-year contract to run the 300300 service to international services group Serco.
The deal is expected to see KC staff currently working on the contract at the company's call centre in Prospect Street being transferred to Serco on their existing pay and conditions.
Under the terms of the proposed contract, Serco will also be required to open a new call centre operation in Hull.
Councillor John Hewitt said the proposed new contract would deliver value-for-money savings for the council and protect jobs.
"We believe it is the best deal for the council and the best deal for people of the city."
The council's 300300 service was the first contract to be secured by the Hull-based telecoms group after launching its new call centre division.
Before then, people had to choose from one of more than 250 published telephone numbers located at 200 different sites just to speak to someone at the council.
At the time, the council was still a significant shareholder in the company.
The 24-hour call centre operation was hailed as the biggest single job creation boost in Hull for 45 years.
The council contract helped establish KC in what was then a fast-growing competitive market for outsourced call centre work. Today, it provides call centre services for companies raging from Bolton Council to Network Rail and bathroom supplier Victoria Plum.
But a start date has yet to be confirmed as the decision is subject to TUPE negotiations and there is a period where unsuccessful bidders can challenge the result.
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