Vertex and HIE pilot home working scheme in rural communities of Easter Ross 

21st October 2009 - Vertex, a leading international Customer Management Outsourcing business, and which has contact centres in Ross-shire and Moray, is to pilot a home working project which will create up to 15 jobs in the rural seaboard communities of Easter Ross.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Join the UK Call Centres LinkedIn group. The Who's Who of UK call centres !

Click here to join > http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=1803753

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Dingwall site has more than doubled in staff in the past three years and is looking at home working as a solution to allow it to expand its business further.  Vertex, working with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the Highland Employer Coalition and Job Centre Plus, has targeted this particular area to open up new job opportunities focusing on the Ross-shire communities.

HIE is supporting the project with just over £20,000 of funding.  As well as offering environmental advantages the trial will also have a positive social impact.  It is specifically targeting people within the community who may not normally be able to attend a traditional workplace for a number of reasons such as disability, home-caring responsibilities and lack of access to transport.

"We are excited about exploring the advantages a home working business model could offer staff.  If successful it will allow the company to grow and expand its services.  We have already demonstrated how effective our service delivery can be, having made significant improvements on our Westminster City Council contract.  We are hoping to prove that we can support new projects by being able to tap into home working in small communities," said Kathleen Lohse, customer service manager at Vertex in Dingwall.

Alison Wilson of HIE commented: "This project is unique as the trial will involve recruitment of new employees rather that transferring experienced staff already working within this important sector.  As such, the project will require the investment of time and effort into finding and training new staff, testing the technology and creating flexible processes.

She added: "If the concept can be proved it will provide the company with an alternative recruitment strategy and enable access to a whole new pool of potential employees.  It will open up significant job opportunities in rural areas for relatively disadvantaged individuals and communities and it will reduce the need for people to travel when transport is an issue.

We hope the pilot will prove to be a scalable model of working which will help to grow this sector -  which already employs 3,400 people in 30 centres across the Highlands -  creating job opportunities in our smaller, more remote communities, and providing companies with access to highly skilled individuals outwith large centres of population."

Benefits to the environment and the community will include reduced energy use and costs; less traveling for staff and less time away from home leading to improved work-life balance; less stress and more flexibility. It will also open up rural communities and reduce reliance on limited public transport in these areas.

Vertex Dingwall hopes to showcase the concept across the whole of their UK operations and demonstrate that it can be a viable workspace alternative.  It will also enable Vertex to grow their existing business as well as attracting new clients to the area and improving the long-term sustainability of the financial and business services sector within the Highlands and Islands.

Date - 22/10/2009