A call centre company based in Shipley has announced a major expansion that will create hundreds of new jobs as a result of the pandemic.

CallCarehas doubled its booked revenue to £30m and is creating 400 new jobs, as lockdown and consumer uncertainty from Covid-19 leads to a surge in customer enquiries and more businesses outsourcing customer service to reduce risk.

The global pandemic has also compelled firms to bring customer service operations back on shore because of call centres in other countries being shut down due to differences in Coronavirus legislation.

In the UK, employees within call centres have keyworker status allowing them to continue supporting businesses as usual.

The customer service specialist, based in Salford, is expanding its workforce across its contact centres in Manchester, Liverpool, and West Yorkshire to handle a range of customer services from Covid-19 helplines to online shopping enquiries. CallCare has created and filled 100 new jobs since March and will add a further 300 by August 2021. Most of the new roles will be in Manchester with some in Liverpool and Shipley.

The massive staff increase is largely due to the impacts of Covid-19, which has accelerated the need for organisations to outsource customer service lines on account of reductions in workforces.

According to CallCare, the pandemic has also contributed to the extension of traditional working hours meaning businesses require further support to help handle the influx of ‘off peak’ customer enquiries.

Additionally, CallCare has attributed its significant rise in revenue to its ongoing partnership with Public Health England where it is handling Covid-19 response lines in healthcare and education.

It has also expanded its customer service work for existing clients including Dreamland, a quality mattress and bedding manufacturer, and ChipsAway, a mobile car paintwork repair business.

So far, recruitment has attracted candidates from a more unusual supply pool including former airline cabin crew and friends and family of employees made redundant, and sectors that struggled or ceased operations during lockdown such as hospitality and travel.

Gemma Harding, head of client services at CallCare said: “The pandemic has forced many organisations to outsource to maintain operations and mitigate the impacts on the customer. We offer a cost-effective and low-risk alternative to customer service and businesses utilising our centres can be confident that their customers are receiving the right response.

“Since March, we have seen a seismic shift to towards using customer experience centres and many companies are realising the benefits. Expanding our workforce means that as more and more companies turn to outsourcing as the ‘go to’ for customer service, we will be ready to meet their requirements.

“With mass redundancies across the UK as a result of the pandemic, we’re really pleased to be able to offer permanent career opportunities in an industry that’s booming.”

Part of The Call Centre Group, Call Care also operates subsidiaries including Your Business Voice Limited and The Contact People. The organisation offers five key inbound customer service solutions - Ecommerce, FM, health, professional services, and SME.

The company was established in 1998 as an emergency telephone answering service. Since then, it has evolved to offer a range of inbound customer service solutions across eCommerce, facilities management, health, professional services, and SME markets.