24
October
2017
|
10:17
Europe/London

BT’s fast expanding Swansea customer service takes centre stage

Summary
Welsh Government Economy Secretary, Ken Skates, has hailed the success of BT’s flourishing contact centre in Swansea.

Employment Secretary hails success of centre which has nearly quadrupled in size in last three years

Welsh Government Economy Secretary, Ken Skates, has hailed the success of BT’s flourishing contact centre in Swansea.

The Economy Secretary called in at the BT Tower centre, which has nearly quadrupled in size over the last three years, to speak to a number of newly recruited Swansea advisers that are playing a leading role in BT’s customer service.

The Swansea base, which is one of the main employers in the city with nearly 500 working from the well-known local landmark, recently recruited an additional 100 customer service advisors with support from the Welsh Government.

The new roles were created in order to meet BT’s commitment to answer more of its customers’ calls in the UK, and with help from the Swansea centre this has now reached 85 per cent.

Economy Secretary, Ken Skates, said: “As one of our anchor companies, BT already makes a highly significant contribution to our economy here in Wales. And looking to the future we know that the digital economy and maximising the considerable opportunities it presents will be key to our prosperity and economic growth.

“Earlier this year the Welsh Government was proud to support the creation of an additional 100 technical customer service jobs here at BT Tower Swansea. I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet some of those recruits today and speak to them about how they are getting on in their roles and about the career opportunities offered within BT.”

Alwen Williams, director for BT Cymru Wales, said: “Continuing to improve customer service is key for BT and it’s great to see Swansea playing such a leading role within the company to help us achieve this commitment.

“The Welsh Government’s backing in bringing these new roles to Swansea should not be underestimated and we value the support Economy Secretary, Ken Skates, gave to the project.

“BT is already a major employer in Swansea and these new roles reflect our commitment to the city and the skills and quality of our workforce. We hope to continue to grow the site in the future.

“But our commitment to Swansea doesn’t stop at employment. We’re also rolling-out ultrafast broadband technology in Swansea which is bringing access to some of the very fastest fibre broadband speeds available in the UK.”

A recent employee satisfaction survey showed the Swansea centre had the distinction of being the BT Consumer site with the most engaged workforce in Wales and the South West England region.

BT Consumer has committed to improving customer service and is spending an extra £80m over two years to boost performance, in addition to the hundreds of millions of pounds it already spends each year on service.

Every advisor has each received an extra 100 hours of training in order to ensure that they are equipped to resolve customers queries as efficiently as possible. The company is also investing in new simpler systems for its advisors, improving service on bt.com and has launched the BT App that allows customers to carry out activities like checking their bill or tracking the progress of their engineer if they have booked a home appointment.

In addition to being the base for one of BT’s key contact centres, BT Tower in Swansea is also used by BT as a site to test a number of its flagship products including BT mobile, BT TV and the latest BT hubs.