CAPE TOWN (The Southern African Times) –
A Scottish call centre company plans to create 150 jobs in Cape Town, which will grow to 600 within a year.
Ascensos, which employs more than 3,000 people in the UK, Turkey and Romania, said its Cape Town operation would open later this month.
John Devlin, CEO and co-founder of Ascensos, said: “Cape Town is a premier location with a fantastic talent pool and it’s a well-established market for English-speaking service delivery.
“This is a great opportunity to create a large number of high-quality jobs and we are looking forward to building on new business opportunities in the region, while servicing our existing client base, which includes some of the world’s best-known brands.”
The company provides contact-centre services for more than 20 clients including KFC, supermarket group Aldi, DIY chains B&Q and Wickes, and sporting goods retailer JD Sports. Its revenue in 2019 was £30m (about R600m).
In August, the eight-year-old business announced 100 new jobs in Scotland as part of plans to recruit 500 new staff in rural areas around the UK.
Ascensos said the local hubs would “bring high-quality digital jobs to rural communities, with staff working mainly from home”.
CapeBPO, an organisation set up by the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government to develop the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, says the sector has created 35,000 job opportunities in a decade.
Its website says: “South Africa … is one of the fastest-growing BPO locations globally. This is primarily due to Cape Town offering high-quality voice-driven contact centres, but also to the fact that BPO companies here are increasingly providing services across a wide range of industries, as well as niche markets.
“Our qualified talent pool has allowed us to expertly serve the retail, utilities, travel and tourism, finance, legal, logistics, and IT sectors.
“Our clients in the UK, US and Australia need innovative support from a customer experience point of view. Cape Town and the surrounding region have a highly capable workforce, able to service these clients effectively.”
Cape BPO has set up an academy in Cape Town to train recruits for the BPO sector.
