Jobs threat at Telewest Business

Organisational changes

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 18th September 2003 18:24 GMT

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There are fears of further job losses at Telewest's business division after call centre staff in Peterborough were told that the operation is due to be switched to Sheffield by December.

According to insiders, around 30 staff - who handle voice and data enquiries from Telewest's business customers - will be affected by the move. Telewest insists only 20 jobs are under threat.

At this stage it's unclear whether those currently employed at Peterborough will be prepared to up sticks and make the move to Sheffield.

Speculation that Telewest might move its call centre operation to Sheffield has been circulating for some time. Increasingly, staff in Peterborough have complained that they were being "left in the dark" by the cableco.

No one at Telewest was available for comment this afternoon (nobody to answer the phone? - Ed). But in a statement the company said: "In order to improve the customer experience, build the business and deliver operational efficiencies, we are making changes to the organisation of Telewest Business.

"As a result, 20 staff in the Peterborough office have unfortunately been placed at risk of redundancy. We will be consulting with individuals affected and hope to redeploy staff across the company wherever possible. We also intend to recruit staff in Peterborough before the end of this year."

This latest news caps off a thoroughly miserable couple of months for Telewest staff in Peterborough.

Earlier this summer workers at Telewest's Business Fault Centre were told that the cableco has decided to cut wages by around £1,100 a year.

And in June up to 70 jobs were put at risk following a decision to restructure part of the business in a bid to cut costs. ®