THREE hundred call centre jobs are coming to Hull after an international firm recognised the communication skills of city workers.
Sales and marketing business Clearanswer set up in the city eight years ago with 15 staff. Now, the company employs close to 700 people at its Essex House office in Manor Street.
The firm is planning to increase its staff numbers by another 300 to cope with rising demand for its services.
Senior recruitment and facilities manager Sue Thompson said: "You read about redundancies all the time but this is really good news.
"It's not only good for the company, it's good for Hull.
"It's the people of Hull who have made this a success, the people we employ."
Clearanswer already has offices in Leeds and Bucharest but the company management is concentrating its expansion plans on Hull.
Ms Thompson believes the friendliness of the city makes it a perfect home.
She said: "On the telephone, people from Hull are just themselves. They're warm and they're honest.
"It's definitely down to the people from Hull."
Some call centres offer zero- hour contracts or short-term, sporadic employment of staff.
But the company said all jobs on offer were full-time and permanent.
It also claimed there was good career progression, with one employee promoted to manager for every 12 new staff hired.
Ms Thompson began on the bottom rung eight years ago when Clearanswer first moved to the city.
She has since worked her way up to a role in senior management.
She said: "All our managers have grown from being agents on the telephones.
"I started as an outbound call agent and I've gone right the way through the ranks.
"All the time you see these redundancies whereas we've got these vacancies, we're growing and I think it would be good for people to realise it's not just a job for two or three weeks, it's a permanent position with good career prospects."
After the demise of Hull's fishing industry, the city has struggled with employment rates.
Comet went bust at the end of last year, with hundreds of workers losing their jobs.
Hull City Council has been forced into ferocious cutbacks by Government policy.
But the vacuum left by traditional firms is being filled by services according to Stuart Griffiths, district manager at Hull's Jobcentre Plus.
Hailing Clearanswer's announcement as "terrific news", he said: "People don't realise there's quite a thriving contact centre industry in Hull at the moment.
"You need a rich, diverse range of vacancies and call centres add to that mix really well.
"We've had a few knocks over the past few years but this is a good news story."
Mr Griffiths said there were many myths about call centres but they could be rewarding places to work.
Jobcentre Plus and Hull College both offer pre-employment training to anyone hoping to work in the sales and marketing industry.
Clearanswer said its jobs were open to people of all ages and its website claims the company employs no casual staff or home-based workers.
Visit www.clearanswer.co.uk for more information.
10
