Finalists announced for Welsh Contact Centre Awards

The finalists for Wales’ contact centre industry awards have been announced by the Welsh Contact Centre Forum (WCCF) ahead of next year’s event in the capital city.

The Welsh Contact Centre Awards will see employees from companies across Wales, including British Gas, Logica, HSBC, Virgin Media, RBS, First Source and Tesco, vying to win one of 15 awards in February 2013 at Cardiff City Stadium.

This year’s event includes a category for Contact Centre Manager with Over 100 Staff. Six individuals, Ben Winchester, Save Britain Money based in Swansea, Mike Hill from First Source, Cardiff, Julie Hourihan, from Lloyds TSB, Newport, Paul Williams and Dave Wright from Logica, Bridgend and Jo Hill from SSE in Cardiff, have all been named as finalists to compete head to head on the evening.

Award categories include:

• Manager With Over 100 Staff
• Contact Centre of the Year (in-house)
• Best Outsourced Contact Centre
• Support Team of the Year
• Customer Retention Award
• Best Community Initiative
• Sales Agent
• Support Person
• Customer Service Representative (CSR)
• Team Leader
• Trainer
• Shared Service Initiative
• Manager With Under 100 Staff
• People Development
• Best Use of Technology.

Sandra Busby, managing director of the Welsh Contact Centre Forum, said: “We’re delighted to announce an extremely strong shortlist for the awards once again. The competitiveness of the awards is a clear reflection of the strength of the sector in Wales.”

The awards, which have been running for 15 years, celebrate the excellence of individuals, teams and companies working within the Welsh contact centre and shared service industry.

Despite the double-dip recession, the industry still employs 30,000 people at operations in 29 towns and cities throughout the country, and pumps £400m a year into the Welsh economy. The sector continues to thrive and is one of the success stories of an evolving modern-day Wales.