Outsourced contact centre specialist to create 200 new jobs with opening of Liverpool City Region site

Kura, the outsourced contact centre and software specialist, has selected Sefton for the location of its first site outside of Scotland.

The Glasgow-based company will occupy Caspian House at Atlantic Park, which is expected to house over 400 employees.

The move comes after Kura was selected as a strategic partner of Scottish Power for the next five years to become the utility giant’s largest outsource customer services provider.

Following the tender process, which started in January 2016, Kura will provide telephony handling services in the United Kingdom from 1st April 2017 onwards. The new telephony contracts meet Scottish Power’s promise of delivering all call handling services from UK based contact centres.

The new contracts will also support current service teams and local communities by focusing on contact centres in existing Scottish Power regions.

When the new centre opens at Atlantic Park on Saturday 1st April, it will house 200 contact centre advisors, leaving an additional 200 jobs available for Kura’s growth plans.

Brian Bannatyne, chief executive of Kura, said: “We’re delighted to be opening this major new site in the thriving Liverpool area. Sefton offers a fantastic platform for our expansion within the UK and will create new jobs for those in the area.

“At Kura we’re out to build a very different business in our industry, one that is focused on its people and their development. Our philosophy is to help people be the best they can be and our vision is to be recognised across all organisations as unrivalled in developing people.

“Caspian House will be a flagship site, creating the right learning environment for the culture we are building.”

Margaret Carney, chief executive at Sefton Council, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Kura to Sefton in what is a fantastic boost for the local economy. The new call centre at Caspian House will create new jobs within the borough and I know the organisation has been supported by the fantastic teams at Invest Sefton and Sefton@Work.

“Kura selecting Atlantic Park as the home for its first contact centre outside of Scotland shows that it sees the borough as the perfect springboard for future growth in the UK and reinforces that Sefton is open for business.”

Lynda Clayton, Scottish Power’s customer service director, added: “ScottishPower is already a significant employer across Merseyside, and we are pleased that our agreement with Kura will see a new office open in Sefton, creating many jobs. We are looking forward to working closely with Kura to deliver best in class service to our customers.”

Mark Basnett, managing director of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, also said: “Working alongside Sefton Council and their Invest Sefton team, we’ve supported Kura’s decision-making process every step of the way, supplying information and advice about demographics, skills and lifestyle.”

“As well as creating new job opportunities, this move again underlines that Liverpool City Region is a brilliant location to base business process outsourcing centres. The LEP and Invest Sefton will continue to work closely with Kura to support their future plans.”

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