Welsh contact centre awarded Investors in People

Connect Assist, a growing social enterprise which emerged from a charity, has been awarded the Investors in People (IIP) Bronze standard. Connect Assist runs professional helplines and web systems for charities and organisations that help people make positive life changes that last.

“Connect Assist is not a typical contact centre, neither is it a typical business in Wales,” say the assessors from IIP. “This is a business led by an entrepreneur, with a heart for social responsibility, learning and business. Connect Assist is a case study which the rest of Wales and further afield could benefit from.”

Connect Assist has grown steadily since its establishment five years ago. It aims to increase profit by 20% year on year and aims to grow its local workforce to 50 people in 2012.

Rusty Livock, Deputy Chief Executive of Connect Assist (pictured above), says, “To achieve Bronze status from Investors in People is a great accolade. We have total commitment to investing in and developing our people, most of whom are from the Welsh valleys. The IiP standard is also an important award for our clients in the not-for-profit sector as it demonstrates our values and ethics. We are not a typical contact centre. Our people do not work to sales targets. Instead we measure impact targets where our clients achieve life-changing outcomes.”

Achieving Bronze additional recognition for Investors in People places Connect Assist at the leading edge of the best people management practice in the UK and shows Connect Assist as an advanced Investor in People.