Santander to move call centres from India to UK
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Banking giant says complaints from customers prompted decision to cease call centre operations in Bangalore and Pune
The UK division of banking giant Santander has announced plans to move call centre operations from India to the UK, following complaints from customers.
Formerly known as Abbey, the retail banking provider outsourced its call centre operations to India in 2003, in partnership with a US-based company called MsourcE.
That decisions lead to the closure of three call centres in Bradford, Derby and Warrington, affecting around 400 jobs. At the time, Abbey CEO Luqman Arnold said the decision would provide "customers better service at a competitive price".
Now, the company says it will move call centre operations back to facilities in Glasgow, Leicester and Liverpool, creating 500 new jobs.
"Our customers tell us they prefer our call centres to be in the UK and not offshore," said Santander UK CEO Ana Botin. "We have listened to the feedback and have acted by re-establishing our call centres back here."
Earlier this week, telecommunications company New Call Telecom said it had moved its call centre from Mumbai to Burnley. However, that company said the decision was made to save costs.
"Employees (in the UK) are loyal, unemployment rates are quite high," CEO Nigel Eastwood told the BBC. "In contrast, in India jobs are plentiful and we suffer a lot from attrition."
