Virgin Media to close Liverpool call centre

Virgin Media has proposed the consolidation of its call centres in Albert Dock, Liverpool and Matrix Court, Swansea to "create an in-house Virgin Media centre of excellence for customer management at the Swansea site".

Employees at the two sites were informed of the development today and a 90-day consultation is now underway on the plans.

Virgin Media employs 435 staff at the Liverpool site and 680 in Swansea. Both sites are currently operated by IBM and its agency partners Adecco and Manpower.

All agency staff currently at the Swansea site with "roles that map to Virgin Media's existing organisational structure" will transfer to Virgin Media. It is estimated that around 600 jobs will immediately move over, while consultations are ongoing with the remaining 80.

In Liverpool, outsourced staff will be offered the chance to relocate to Swansea, or seek employment at Virgin's other customer service facilities in Manchester or Knowsley. They are also able to seek other opportunities within employer IBM.

In a statement, Virgin Media said: "We know this may be a difficult message for those affected by these proposals, so we are committed to communicating as early and openly as possible with all affected employees.

"Virgin Media will be actively working with IBM, Adecco and Manpower as well as recognised unions and employee representatives during the consultation process to help all employees best manage decisions about their future."

> Virgin Media to roll out major TiVo update
> Sky to create 50 finance customer service jobs in Scotland