By Tim Ferguson, 7 March 2007 15:29
NEWS
Barclaycard will move some of its operations to India following the announcement it is to close its Manchester call centre this summer.
The company's Peterloo House office in Manchester will close on 16 July, with jobs going to a number of other locations including Delhi, Mumbai and Teesside.
A Barclaycard spokesman said the move is to "ensure that the company remains cost efficient".
But Amicus, the union representing Barclaycard staff, has condemned the plans.
An Amicus representative said the union believes it to be "totally inappropriate" for a large and highly profitable employer such as Barclaycard to be announcing closures and job losses.
He said in a statement: "We have made our opposition to these moves very clear to the bank."
India from the inside
silicon.com's Steve Ranger recently visited Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore - find out how companies are taking advantage of the outsourcing possibilities there in our Inside India special report.
Amicus is working with the bank and has "robust agreements" to help affected employees find other roles within the Barclays group.
Barclaycard chief executive, Antony Jenkins, said the business is becoming more global and needs to change how it operates to be successful. The closing of Peterloo House is part of that process, he said.
The company decided not to move call centre operations to the group's new Manchester premises, preferring to close the call centre operations completely.
Following the closure in July, staff will continue to be paid in full for three months to help them in their efforts to find new jobs.
Comments
There are 7 comments. Join the discussion
1. Sarah
Another reason not to have a Barclaycard ....
2. Nick Cole
Cutting the costs of support is not the way to help dissatisfied customers. I have never experienced a satisfactory outcome to any problem when it is outsourced outside of UK. It is difficult enough getting resolution when you talk to a fellow Britain let alone with the language and accent barrier.
Invariably call takers have not been empowered to actually fix a problem so the end result is even more dissatisfaction than was there before calling.
Such actions are foolish, ill-considered and do no credit for the senior managers in their ivory towers and 6 figure salaries who have not the slightest idea of what goes on at the sharp end or as a customer.
3. Karen Challinor
... and they can cut costs even further then, when I transfer my credit card to someone else who doesn't offshore
despite being with them for nearly 20 years
.... oops that profits not costs, tut forget my own head next
4. Roy Judd
Antony Jenkins would do well to reflect that a "Pigs at the trough" reputation will ultimately undermine corporate greed, no matter how well it's dressed. Barclays is, once again, demonstrating its total indifference to both its loyal clients and its staff. And... guess what? We let them get away with it. People must start voting with their feet (and their accounts). Nothing sharpens the senses more than an empty trough...
5. Michael Penn
Barclaycard investors and employees should look for even more bloodshed in the weeks and months ahead as Barclaycard (United States) managed to lose over $100 million in 2006 while spending $37 million on a lavish headquarters in Wilmington, DE. where they can only fill half the seats.
Antony Jenkins and team have seemingly lost control over excessive spending by management while the U.S. continues to severely miss its profit and new business targets.
Management continues to garner nearly 50% of its card business from middle market customers - the very same segment that has become such an enormous problem in the UK.
Who's in charge here?
6. anonymous
Absolutely right,another reason not to have a Barclay card.I had a Barclay account & when I decided it wasn't the account for me,all Barclay did was close it, no advise or better account,just closed it.So like call centres in U.K. no advise for dissatisfied customers just close them.People should speak with their feet and go else where.Obviously Barclay have got so big they are forgetting about the person on the street.
7. Ruth
Does this remind readers of the ads on TV for some bank - maybe even Barclays - where the Big Boss decides that the way to cut queues at branches to increase customer satisfaction is to close all the branches?