Sept 07 - TSC Go Global

Telecom Service Centres, one of Britain’s leading contact centre companies, has changed ownership in a multi million pound move. This will see the fast-expanding UK business merge with a flourishing Indian contact centre company, Hero ITES, a Hero Group Company.

TSC presently have over 3000 employees in nine UK sites, the majority in Scotland and also in Yorkshire’s Dearne Valley.

This move will allow TSC to offer a wider range of products and services. These new capabilities will help drive expansion and create more jobs in Britain and off-shore. Under the new structure, the TSC management team will retain a significant investment in the business and will continue to lead the new enlarged company, TSC Hero.

Hero ITES is part of the giant Hero Group with its contact centre operation based in Gurgaon, near Delhi. This additional capability will take the total capacity of the new organisation to over 3,500 seats providing BPO services to the USA, Australia and the UK. They see TSC’s management skills and experience as key to driving their own expansion in the BPO business.

Welcoming the move, TSC’s Chief Executive Officer Ken Hills said: “Let me make this clear. This is not about taking UK jobs to India.

“On the contrary, TSC’s clients have all made positive decisions to locate their operations in the UK – whilst searching for additional services which compliment existing arrangements.

“We firmly believe there are aspects of the industry that can be handled off-shore and we already have experience of working relationships with companies in India and South Africa.

“Now we will be able to offer a greater off-shore capability which will actually be part of the company and managed by the TSC team.”

Ken Hills (CEO, TSC) & Sunil Kant Munjal (Chairman, Hero Corporate Service Ltd)

TSC was founded in the Scottish island of Bute in 1994 and quickly expanded. By the millennium they had five Scottish operations and in 2003, LDC, the Private Equity arm of Lloyds TSB Group, invested in the company and supported its continued expansion.

Their client list has continued to grow with Vodafone, T-Mobile, Hewlett-Packard, HBOS, and HSBC among their customers.

“It is a tremendous tribute to the standard of service TSC provides that a world-wide organisation like the Hero Group has become our majority shareholder,” says Hills.

“Business and as a result job security has steadily increased since LDC became our major shareholder in 2003 with an additional 1000 employees deployed across the UK. This is a great example of a private equity backed business creating significant numbers of jobs in the UK.”

COO David Ewing insists: “The new arrangements bring even more financial muscle and will allow TSC Hero to compete on a global basis. It gives us access to facilities and capital that will let us turn a successful British business into a global one.

“The new company will provide the support for TSC Hero to win new business at home, and internationally. This will ensure the future of the business, strengthen job security and create further opportunities based on these international capabilities.”

Andrew McMurray, Director of LDC welcomed the news. “Extension of its off shore capabilities is the next natural step for TSC. As leading investors in UK business development and growth, we are proud to have supported TSC and its excellent team during the last four years. It has developed into a leading UK player and we believe that with the creation of TSC Hero, the company will enjoy even greater success in the UK and abroad.”