KC lifeline for Hull Comet workers as Network Rail contract creates jobs
FORMER Comet workers have been thrown a lifeline.
A £2m KC Contact Centre contract with Network Rail has created 30 positions, many of which have been filled by former Comet employees.
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WELCOME ABOARD: Head of KC Contact Centres Tony Jopling, front second left, with, from left, Laura Le Maire, Nicki Mayers and Derek Crook, all of Network Rail, and the new staff. Picture: Peter Harbour
The outsourced contact centre in Prospect Street is part of Hull communications provider KC and counts Hull City Council and retailer MFI among its clients.
Head of KC Contact Centres Tony Jopling said it was great to be able to provide hardworking people with local jobs.
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He said: "It is such a shame what happened at Comet, but winning this contract last November was perfect timing as it enabled us to offer a lifeline to some of the people who had lost their jobs.
"The people who have come from there are clearly highly skilled with a strong customer service and contact centre background.
"We have also taken on former Comet workers to work on another account.
"From our perspective, we are delighted to be able to keep some of that talent in work and the skills in Hull."
KC announced late last year it had been chosen by Network Rail to run its National Helpline and Commercial Property Helpdesk for a five-year period.
The contract is now up and running and the team working on it will handle more than 180,000 enquiries every year about the day to day operations of the UK's railway infrastructure and Network Rail's commercial properties.
"We're very happy to be working with Network Rail, a household name that demands the very best in customer service," Mr Jopling said.
Last year, KC Contact Centres became one of just ten call centres in Yorkshire to be awarded the Global Standard for quality service by international industry body the Customer Contact Association.
It is also ranked among the top 20 of the UK's 6,000-plus call centres for customer service and in the top five public sector call centres.
Mr Jopling said: "Network Rail was looking for an outsourcing partner that can handle the large volume of calls they receive without compromising on service.
"We were able to demonstrate our ability to do this, and to provide innovations and ways of working that continually improve both efficiency and the service we deliver."
19 Comments
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by davroidman
Sunday, February 03 2013, 4:48PM
“My apologies Mr David Nivea-you are the king of the commenters on this site IMHO.”
by Paul_at_Hull
Sunday, February 03 2013, 3:13PM
“The Comet call centre staff would be ideal for this. I'm not the biggest KC fan but I'll given credit where it is due. Well done, KC, glad you are remembering where your revenue comes from. God bless to the Comet staff and I pray that this upturn works out for you. What's good for you is good for Hull and I really want to see some good new for Hull.”
by David_Nivea
Sunday, February 03 2013, 1:00PM
“@unified: "David Nivea. You really are a first class plonker. Please for us unenlightened one please explain what the heck you talking about"
If you don't get it, no amount of explaining will make you understand. Also, how can you possibly consider insulting someone when, by your own admission you do not posses the wit to understand what they mean?
@davroidman: "Nice brown shoes Nivea (if that is even your real name)LOL"
"Nice brown shoes" is an oxymoron, surely? Also, how rude to address someone by their surname, unless you went to a public school where that sort of thing was de rigeur.”
by davroidman
Sunday, February 03 2013, 6:05AM
“Nice brown shoes Nivea (if that is even your real name)LOL”
by thesnooper
Sunday, February 03 2013, 12:21AM
“@ unified
sartorial relates to the tailoring of clothes
so by the sounds of it he's saying badly designed brown shoes ( 2 people in the picture )
and the wearing of a dark suit indicates a person with bad judgement, is he right ? not really”
by thesnooper
Sunday, February 03 2013, 12:13AM
“@ Saucerbug you said
"It's great for them, but there are very many people who have been struggling to get work for a long time and could have filled these jobs
what difference does it make its still 30 jobs and they were already in a call centre so have the experience”
by unified
Saturday, February 02 2013, 11:15PM
“David Nivea. You really are a first class plonker. Please for us unenlightened one please explain what the heck you talking about”
by ArthurHunt
Saturday, February 02 2013, 6:52PM
“@Nothbar
OK thanks for the clarification...”
by NorthBar
Saturday, February 02 2013, 4:47PM
“@arthurhunt @dontwo They don't cut you off for downloading, as they consider that you are just copying for your own use and that's ok, but they do cut you off for uploading which is categorised as the distribution of copyright material and that's a big no no!
Just set your upload speed below 12kps and it should be ok!
I don't do it myself of course, a man told me that!”
by LittleHobbit
Saturday, February 02 2013, 4:38PM
“Another here who agrees with northbar, dontwo and smartguy. Not the cheapest but in the 9 years I have been with KC internet, always reliable. Only once had cause to complain and as with dontwo it was my fault, had used up my megabites for that month. The guy at KC who I talked to was brilliant and very helpful. I upgraded, it actually worked out at less and no further problems. My friend on talktalk has so many problems and they are rude and unhelpful when she rings; one day she spent amost TEN hours trying to get it sorted. Another with Virgin finds it so slow sometimes she just gives up. Those with dongles seem to have problems as well.
Oh ... and good on KC for giving jobs to the Comet people.”