UK Call centres set for 16% cut-back this year

UK CALL CENTRES SET FOR 16% CUT-BACK THIS YEAR Sector research reveals overall decline of one-third by 2005 The number of large-scale call centres in the UK is set to fall this year by 16%, from 3,100 to 2,600 according to sector-specialist, Mitial Research. The closures of the call centres, which provide telephone- based customer service for utilities, financial organisations and hotel, travel and leisure companies, will fall most heavily on the North East, and East and West Midlands. Mitial Research's mid-term forecast shows that over the next 24-months the UK will lose 1,000 - or 32% - of its current call centres before the sector stabilises and starts to show marginal growth again in 2005. Michael Allen, Managing Director of Mitial Research said: "The anticipated decline is the result of a classic market shakeout - there are simply too many call centres providing too much capacity. The next 2 years will see a severe rationalisation of the sector and only the highest quality call centres will survive." In addition to overcapacity in the UK, Mitial Research also attributes the anticipated decline to: · The transfer of call centres to overseas locations, both within the EU and to India · Improvements in commercial websites which require less telephone contact between companies and their customers · The general economic downturn which has reduced overall demand for services (more) Regional Winners & Losers The highest level of call centre closures are expected in the North East (31% decline), East Midlands (28% decline) and West Midlands (26% decline). Only Northern Ireland, with its sustained quality and marketing programmes to attract and retain call centres, will see growth in 2003, doubling the number of large-scale locations to 40 by the end of the year. Mitial Research's market predictions are published in its '8th Annual UK Contact Centre Report'. For further information see www.mitial.com. - Ends - Mitial Research provides primary research on world markets for call and contact centres. Established in 1990, Mitial Research publishes annual research reports on sector developments in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Philippines, India, Eastern Europe, France, Belgium, Scandinavia, Italy and Spain. Mitial also provides Quality Assurance assessment services to the industry. For further information contact: Simon Bond B2B Marketing & Communications Tel: 020 8 671 4452 Michael Allen Mitial Research Tel: 01244 313704 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/02/05/20030205BIT00300/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/02/05/20030205BIT00300/wkr0002.pdf