Flynn's plea on call centre jobs

Published on Sunday 2 May 2004 01:00

PEARSE Flynn, the Irish entrepreneur behind the CallPoint call centre in Glasgow, says the government is "insane" to allow jobs to leave Britain for India.

Lloyds TSB, Norwich Union, Tesco and Serco, which handles rail inquiries, are among those that have moved jobs to India.

But in an interview with Scotland on Sunday, Flynn says the government is being "unpatriotic" and should take steps against companies that shift jobs overseas.

Flynn, who acquired CallPoint in Glasgow’s Bath Street in January, believes customers are rising up against jobs moving abroad, and that companies will suffer.

"Customers are asking the operators - where are you based? They don’t like what is happening," said Flynn.

He claims he can turn loss-making CallPoint, which handles calls for a number of blue-chip clients into an 8m turnover business within a year, increasing staff from 450 to 1,000.

Flynn, who was last week named as preferred bidder for Livingston Football Club, said he is "fighting two major evils - the poor image of the business and the stupidity of government".

He said: "It is insane. We have companies making a fortune but we are offshoring jobs. I don’t believe India is going to work."

A new Mori survey for trades unions says Lloyds TSB will lose thousands of customers if it transfers call centre jobs to India.