Call centre Res-Q to create 200 jobs in Hull
THE friendly nature of people in Hull has helped the city land 200 new jobs.
Call centre operating firm Res-Q, which already employs about 170 people in Carr Lane, announced the creation of the jobs after landing a six-figure investment sum.
It intends to use the money – a total of £465,000 acquired from regional development agency Yorkshire Forward – to expand its new operation at the Maltings in Silvester Street, city centre.
It has already created 50 positions at the site and the rest, which includes phone operatives, centre managers, HR professionals and other support staff, will be created over the next two years.
Res-Q managing director Nic Marshall said the city had all the "right ingredients" for the call centre because of the rapport Hull people were capable of building with others.
He told the Mail: "That definitely featured in our decision.
"I'm a Hull lad born and bred and I am passionate about its people.
"One thing they can do is build a rapport with callers, which is a key selling point of our business.
"Our biggest asset is our people. I know a lot of people say that but we really mean it."
Res-Q was set up in Hull just three-and-a-half years ago with a £5,000 grant from the city council's Acorn Fund.
At the time it employed just 12 staff, six of whom are still with the company, but now the figure is more than 200.
It is set to grow to more than 350 once all the new jobs are in place.
The company operates call centres on behalf of a number of big-named national firms in a range of business sectors including utilities, insurance, financial services and mail order.
Mr Marshall said the firm's growth had been due to its focus on providing a top quality service.
Despite the economic downturn, he still felt it was the right time to invest.
"There is still a lot of demand for our services," he said. "Our plan was to be a £10m turnover business in five years, but we are going to achieve that by April next year."
The loan, which is one of the biggest given out by Yorkshire Forward, took around nine months to arrange.
Res-Q was helped in its application by Hull City Council, economic development company Hull Forward and Business Link Yorkshire.
Mr Marshall described the process as "very involved".
He said: "We had lots of people working on it, both in the firm and externally. Business Link was really helpful and so was the council and Hull Forward.
"It was complex and there were a lot of pitfalls so it was good to get someone else's perspective on it."
John Holmes, chief executive of Hull Forward, said assisting new and existing companies to thrive was a significant part of the organisation's remit.
Last year, the body helped create 182 jobs, safeguarded 165 and assisted 197 businesses in the city.
Mr Holmes said: "In order to put businesses on the road to success we put real emphasis on helping with investment and expansion plans to create new jobs.
"Hull and East Yorkshire has a major competitive advantage in the contact centre sector and we are extremely pleased we have been able to contribute to Res-Q's continued success."
43 Comments
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by JR, Hull
Saturday, November 21 2009, 7:41PM
“Why is a "successful business" reliant on grant funding? surely the contracts secured should generate a prosperous company for the directors where staff feel valued. Obviously not the case here as ResQ advertise vacancies in the local press every week and either cannot get the staff to work for them or cannot keep the staff they do recruit.”
by Big Nine, Europe
Saturday, November 21 2009, 2:00PM
“Where does this idea come from that Hull people are friendly & where are you comparing this to? This might have something to do with there not being much money about, but in way too many cases they can be ignorant, insular & mean. Does the UK actually need more call-centres & why are they expanding in a recession?”
by Cheltenham must be great, all you, do is comment on Hull all the time
Saturday, November 21 2009, 11:06AM
“It seems rather bizarre that our superior friend from Cheltenham (formerly Hull) seems to spend a significant proportion of his time critiscising Hull, and also advising its largely illiterate populus on what it should be doing to extricate itself from the cesspit it currently represents. I would not presume to trawl through the Cheltenham and district Bugle's comments page and pontificate on their news so why not practice total economy of comment? As an aside, it must be a pretty narrow career choice if the only place you can work is Cheltenham, what do you do? School crossing patrol, Refuse disposal consultant, public convenience hygiene overseer?”
by Big Nine, Europe
Saturday, November 21 2009, 1:08AM
“I'm sure Cheltenham's got it's good points, & let's face it- it's not Hull is it?”
by Mike, cheltenham( ex Hull)
Friday, November 20 2009, 11:14PM
“Oh dear the idiots are out in force again, or should I just say idiot?
I stand by what I have written, Hull needs quality employment,not more unskilled work as every time we suffer recession the workers of Hull Get Hit hardest. Caravan building is not the answer as it suffers more than most being a leisure activity. But the workers that are involved in the manufacture of these units must be able to turn their hands to something else that has the same element of skill.
As for keeping my opinions to myself, surely the comment facility here is for the reason of debate. I apologise for living in Cheltenham but it is the only place that I can currently work.”