Nearly 800 jobs to go as Virgin axes call centre
VIRGIN Media is shutting the doors of its flagship Swansea site, putting almost 800 jobs at risk.
Bosses confirmed the Swansea site would shut by the autumn of next year under a £40m threeyear scheme to invest in existing sites elsewhere and acquire new ones.
The firm has said 470 customer operations roles based at the site will transfer to either one of its partners or the soon-to-berevamped Wythenshawe site near Manchester.
It said the majority of the remaining roles, which were not part of customer operations, would relocate to alternative sites across Britain.
It is understood managers were informed of the decision on Wednesday night and counsellors were drafted into the premises yesterday morning to give support
to workers. A total of 552 people work at Virgin Media with 220 working for subcontractors of the company, Sitel.
The Sitel staff will transfer to that company’s new facility in Bellshill, near Glasgow.
Reacting to the news, Carolyn Harris, MP for Swansea East, said: “I am stunned and hugely disappointed.
“This is a massive blow to South Wales and Swansea.
“There are people who have given valuable service to the company and built their lives and employment with the company.
“I am heartbroken for them and disappointed they have done this. They are not a unionised organisation and the views of the workforce will not be heard.”
She added: “I want to be a voice for them.”
Tom Mockridge, chief executive officer of Virgin Media, said: “Last year Virgin Media began a three-year property investment programme to create fewer, higher-quality work places to better support our people, our business and growing customer base.
“As a result we plan to invest an additional £40m over the next three years to refurbish key sites and acquire new alternative sites.
“As part of this we intend to create four regional customer operations hubs while increasing the flexibility of our customer services resources.
“As a consequence, we have proposed the customer operations roles currently based at our Swansea site will transfer to either one of our partners or to a soon-to-be-refurbished site at Wythenshawe near Manchester.
“The majority of the remaining roles will relocate to alternative sites across the UK.
“This means that our site in Swansea will close by the autumn of 2019.
“We are now working with and supporting all employees who have been asked to relocate, who may be in a role at risk of redundancy or who may wish to take another role with Virgin Media or one of our partners.”
Swansea council leader Rob Stewart said they would work hard to help support the hundreds of people who were told the news yesterday afternoon.
He said: “Along with our colleagues in Welsh Government we will be seeking an urgent meeting with the company to see what can be can be done to retain these jobs in Swansea.
“We believe that Virgin and their contractor Sitel have a bright future in Swansea, but if we cannot get this decision overturned we will use a team Swansea approach bringing together Jobcentre Plus and our major employers such as TUi and Admiral to explore all local redeployment opportunities that are available.
“I have already spoken with the Welsh Government and they are going to convene a task force, as they did when Tesco announced their closure in Cardiff. On that occasion everyone wanting work got a new job in the locality and I think we should aim for the same here.”
He added: “We hope Virgin Media will work with us because the company owes the people of Swansea a debt and therefore a legacy.
“Today’s announcement deepens our concern about failure to invest in rail electrification to Swansea and the competitive disadvantage caused by HS2 in England.
“It is now more vital than ever than we deliver the City Deal and the many thousands of jobs this will create. We are about to implement a growth deal that addresses skills and digital connectivity issues which will be key for the future.”