The commitment to Scotland by mobile phone operator, O2, has been underlined today with the appointment of the 502nd member of staff at its new Glasgow contact centre.  The new hire marks the first phase of O2’s two-year recruitment drive to employ around 1,500 people and invest £18 million in the Scottish network and call centre facility. The new customer service centre which is based at the Skypark business complex at Finnieston, is part of O2’s wider plans to strengthen customer loyalty. Susan Bennett, from Blantyre, was delighted when she was accepted into the O2 family as a customer advisor. Being an O2 customer for eight years, Susan already knew of the benefits of O2 but the main attraction to her was the new contact centre facility. She said, “I’ve worked in call centres before but the Skypark facility is nicer than anywhere I’ve worked before. The pay is great, there are flexible shift patterns and the working environment is so welcoming that you really want to get into your work as soon as you arrive. “O2 provide really good treats such as staff discounts on leisure day outs and local gyms, an onsite internet café, sporting events and news on plasma screens and even last week, they brought in a shooting gallery where we could win prizes. Even though there is so much going on, the emphasis is to have good staff that can deliver a world class service to customers. There are good bonuses on offer but you need to stretch yourself to earn them, so self-motivation and being a self starter is a must.” Team work is also important to O2 and customer advisors need to be able to work as a team and be able to use their personality to deal with calls. People with previous contact centre experience, with a good customer service focus, and are IT literate, are what O2 is looking for. Susan said, “You can see that O2 spend the time and money making this a great place to work but that’s an incentive for staff and I feel it makes you more productive and willing to help customers.” Along with good pay and conditions, 23 days holiday, pension and two yearly bonuses, team members are offered comprehensive training which encourages career development. The added perks are a big attraction for staff: there are discount vouchers, prizes on offer, such as tickets to the O2 Wireless Festival and Alton Towers and breaks can be taken in the chill-out room, playing table football or surfing the net. O2 is now looking to for more customer advisors, coaches and team managers to join its expanding team at the Skypark. Sarah Sargent, Head of Site at the contact centre, said, “Since we announced the contact centre in May 2005 we have been overwhelmed by the number of applications from people who want to come and work for O2. Here at Skypark we are designing a state of the art contact centre to provide our staff with the best possible working environment, as well as a package which is not only attractive but suits their needs. With the upper levels of the new centre nearing completion I am looking forward to welcoming our 1002 and 1502nd employees in the coming months.” O2 is an open and diverse employer that is looking to recruit more enthusiastic people who want to work for one of the UK’s leading mobile phone operators in Glasgow. To find out more about a career as a customer advisor at the Skypark in Glasgow, log on to www.o2.co.uk/careers or call 0800 032 10 02.

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