200 new call centre jobs

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, May 30, 1999 | by Kenny Kemp

A NEW call centre creating up to 200 jobs in the Borders is expected to be announced within the next few weeks.

Work has already started on Claridges Mill, Selkirk, to convert the 1970s Tweedside building with the latest telephone technology. The jobs are believed to be for a major employment consultancy which has done work for companies such as Vodafone and other cellular phone firms.

The news will be a welcome boost for a rural area blighted by company closures and is likely to be the first of a series of new jobs initiatives. Last week, Scottish Borders Enterprise, working on behalf of Scottish Enterprise, announced it had arranged a deal with Viasystems, the American printed circuit board maker which closed its Borders operations last year, for the surrender of the five-year lease of the company's former factory in Selkirk. The deal involves the repayment of #155,000 of grants to Scottish Enterprise. The production area of the 80,000sqft building will be taken over by Signum Circuits, creating 50 jobs, while the rest of the site will be available for further inward investment. Equipment and a specialist water supply have been left under the agreement, to allow Signum to begin operations as soon as possible. The company has appointed Ernie Jamieson as chief executive. Jamieson left Forward Group, formerly Exacta, last year after its takeover by Viasystems. Signum was founded by former Exacta engineers 20 years ago and bought by Guido Crolla in 1995. He becomes executive chairman. Viasystems is in discussion over its Galashiels site but as there is an acute shortage of hi-tech accommodation in the Borders, it is likely a deal will be done very soon. The Selkirk call centre comes after the Rural Investment Unit of Locate in Scotland made several visits to the area, and the region is applying for Objective 2 European Union regional assistance status for 2000 until 2006.