In The News/Awards

August 2011

New Business Brings Jobs Boost To North East Contact Centre

One of the north east’s leading contact centre is set for another jobs boost thanks to winning new contracts.

Hartlepool-based Respondez is taking on 15 additional agency workers after success in a number of pitches has led to new business, bringing the total number of staff to over 200.

Sales and marketing director Sue Marshall is confident that the business, which works with some of the world’s leading games publishers and home shopping retailers, is bucking the trend and expanding its workforce.

“Despite the challenges facing the industry and wider business community during the recession, over the last couple of years we have continued to see the company grow with the employment of 100 extra staff.

“Winning new business is always a boost but in this economy it is extra rewarding for everyone in the team. We have worked very hard and are now delighted to offer these 15 new positions within the company.”

Sue believes that the success is due to a previous order which allowed the company to fully demonstrate its expertise and enabling it to win new business.

“Over the last year and a half, there has been some fantastic progress in terms of business and staff and we anticipate a steady growth and a solid performance in the future,” she added.

The company has also launched a new service for clients, managing the clients own social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This is particularly the case for the computer games industry, where responding to customers messages, questions and technical support queries is critical.

     


July 2011

Debbie takes one big leap for charity

A customer sales advisor from Hartlepool got a great bird’s eye view of the town when she took to the sky for her very first parachute jump for charity.

Debbie Sharp, 21, from Respondez, took the giant leap from 10,000 feet as part of a tandem skydive on behalf of Hartlepool Hospice and managed to raise £500 for the local charity.

After spending the day training in Durham, Debbie finally took the 2-mile plunge. “I have always wanted to take part in a sky dive and doing this for charity makes it even more worthwhile,” said Debbie.

To help raise the sponsorship funds, Debbie created a magazine to sell at work for £2, filled with jokes, recepies etc. She also received donations from friends and family, as well as local companies such as Tesco and Parcelforce.

Debbie descrives the build up to the jump. “I arrived at 8:30am where I did my training on how to land heath and safety and the positions we had to do when free falling but I didn’t jump until 6pm.

“I was taken up in the plane and I was only meant to fall 10,000 but I ended up falling 15,000! I sat at the edge of the plane and I was just really excited, then off we went out the plane and it just felt amazing. I could just see everything that the instructor pointed over Hartlepool, then he pulled the cord and I was just gliding down. It was just breathtaking and I was overwhelmed!”

Respondez is part of the Indian-owned corporate group Spanco Ltd. with clients across a range of sectors including financial services, computer games, beauty products and the toy industry.

         


June 2011

Respondez helps to bring sweet music dreams to life!

Respondez has helped to turn musical dreams into reality for one group of young people in the north east when it sponsored the Best Band (Over 19) category at the Red Dreams Music Awards recently.

The winners of the award were Sunderland-based indie-rock band Rayne, made up of Ben Potts, Adam Dagg and Steven Naisbet and over 400 people were there to see them pick up their award. Also joining the young musicians on stage were video messages of congratulations and encouragement from international stars such as Feeder and Europe.

The Music Awards, which form part of the Red Dreams charity, took place for the second year with young people from all over the Tees Valley competing in 20 categories including Best Songwriter, Best Solo Artist (Male and Female) and Rising Star Award.

Jay Patel, Director at Respondez said: “As a major employer of young people at our call centre here in Hartlepool, we were delighted to get involved with such a lively event, as we are keen to support the creative arts and to help young people make the most of their talents. Congratulations to Rayne on their award and the very best of luck in the future.”

Staff from Respondez attended the event and Site Operations Director, Ricky Mehra was on hand to present the award to the talented winners of the Best Band (Over 19) prize and to enjoy the music and entertainment.






May 2011

Staff kick off charity challenge with a flair for bad fashion!

Respondez launched its involvement in this year's Evolution Corporate Challenge with a Bad Taste Fashion Challenge and employees were only too keen to dress badly for charity!

The Evolution Corporate Challenge provides organisations with £50 and challenges them to raise as much money as possible over a period of three months, with all monies raised being shared equally between Hartlepool & District Hospice, Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice & St Teresa’s Hospice.

The staff at the call centre, based in Hartlepool, took inspiration from fashion faux pas of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and paid £2 for the privilege for the frocky horror show!

Jay Patel, Director said: “Staff at the site had great fun dressing up and they have come up with some more fantastic ideas to raise as much money as possible between now and the end of June. We are delighted to be involved in raising funds for three very worthy local causes.

“We would also like to say a big thank you to some of our clients who have kindly donated products which are being raffled as prizes for staff to win, including a ride-on toy car, exclusive beauty products, fitness programmes, a steam cleaning machine and a half day’s paid leave, as well as selection of Easter Eggs.” 

Other fundraising ideas currently taking place include ‘guess the teddy’s birthday’ and ‘guess the number of sweets in a jar.’