Becogent contracts secure Airdrie and Kilmarnock jobs

 

© The Herald Originally published: 26/11/2009

Becogent, the contact centre group, has won four new contracts worth more than £85m, securing about 1500 jobs over a period of five years.

Celebrating becogent's 10th anniversary yesterday with employees in Airdrie, First Minister Alex Salmond announced the package of new and renewed business for the company. The call centre specialist is a Scottish success story, reporting sales of more than £40m and pre-tax profits of £3.6m in its most recent financial year.

The company has signed new long-term contracts with current clients Virgin Media and JD Williams, which safeguarded more than 1000 jobs in Airdrie.

National Australia Group, the owner of the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, has also renewed its arrangement with the company, securing at least 400 jobs in Kilmarnock.

In addition, becogent has recently gained a multi-year contract with J Sainsbury supermarkets, which will help create 150 new jobs at the company's Glasgow centre.

Salmond congratulated becogent on winning the new business, which he said is of great importance to the company and to the broader economy of Scotland.

He said: "I'm pleased to join becogent as it marks its 10th birthday - a landmark anniversary the company shares with the Scottish Parliament this year. Just as the parliament has grown in stature over this past decade, becoming a symbol of Scotland's renewed sense of confidence, so becogent has developed into a potent symbol of the entrepreneurial spirit and drive that marks out the business community in Scotland."

Dermot Jenkinson, chairman of becogent said: "In the past five years, revenues have more than doubled from £19m to £40m and, although the current year may not feature such sharp growth, becogent's financial position is robust and we can now look forward to increasing both turnover and profit."