Sky announces further 200 Scots jobs

Broadcaster Sky has announced plans to create about 200 jobs at its call centre facilities in Scotland.

The new posts, at contact centres in Dunfermline, Livingston and Uddingston, come as a similar number of roles are created across two English sites, at Newcastle and Stockport.

Sky, which already employs some 5,700 people in its Scottish contact centres, said the new roles would offer a combination of permanent full-time and part-time work.

They form part of a recruitment drive to expand the firm’s corporate business while serving millions of existing Sky viewers.

Spokesman Steven Lindsay said: “We are very excited to be launching one of our biggest sales department intakes for 2015.

“Our aim is to build a reliable and diverse workforce to help grow and expand the Sky brand.We are passionate about delivering excellent customer service and retaining our existing customers, this relies heavily on an experienced and passionate workforce.”

The group said that with a 6,000-strong workforce in Scotland, that also includes engineering and technical staff, it ranked as the country’s ninth largest private sector employer. In April, the satellite broadcaster saw its shares hit 14-year highs as it posted a one-fifth jump in profits after its UK business made the best start to a calendar year for more than a decade.

Sky’s UK operation achieved the largest share of group operating profit after growing 14 per cent to more than £1 billion.