Capita looks to add 1,500 jobs on new contract wins

OUTsourcing company Capita expects to create almost 1,500 jobs in Scotland over the next two years as it secures new business north of the Border.

Chief executive Andy Parker: Capita committed to Scotland

Yesterday, it announced that 550 Glasgow call centre workers will transfer to the company after winning a £93.5 million deal with department store chain John Lewis.

Capita, which already employs around 5,000 in Scotland said that the John Lewis jobs would be among an expected increase of about 2,000 staff in Scotland on the back of anticipated contract successes. The staff working on the John Lewis contract, currently run by Teleperformance, will transfer to Capita under the new five-year deal.

Capita chief executive Andy Parker, said: “The online contact centre will stay in Glasgow, demonstrating Capita’s ongoing commitment to investing in Scotland and supporting the growth of the local economy.”

He said Capita had extensive experience of working with household names from across the private sector, including major retailers. “We appreciate the importance of becoming fully immersed in a company’s brand values,” he added.

Capita said the 2,000 additional jobs it expects to add to its workforce would also include those expected to be created on the back of the announcement last month that the company had signed a framework contract to deliver the Scottish Wide Area Network. SWAN aims to provide a single IT network for the use of all public service organisations within Scotland and the contract is worth up to £325m over nine years.

NHS Scotland and Education Scotland have committed to the network, with a further 11 organisations planning to this year. More than 4,600 sites will be connected to the initial network including schools, hospitals, GP surgeries, pharmacists and council offices.

Key benefits include reduced costs, improved service and the ability to share data.

Capita operates from 18 sites in Scotland providing services to customers, which include Prudential and ScottishPower. In January, it was also awarded a £4m contract to modernise technology in West Dunbartonshire across council offices in Clydebank, Dumbarton and Vale of Leven.

Capita also owns Lasswade-based G2G3 Group – which uses game thinking for training employees – following an acquisition deal last year. G2G3 has developed simulations for some of the world’s leading IT services management organisations, including HP, IBM and Microsoft.

The John Lewis Partnership this month reported a 9.6 per cent rise in annual profits with staff receiving the equivalent of almost eight weeks’ pay from a bonus pot of £202.5m.

Shares in Capita, which have risen by more than 10 per cent since the beginning of February, closed down 4p at 1,105p.