Nationwide building society has re-affirmed its ‘no offshoring’ commitment to UK call centres with the opening of a new operation in Sheffield this week. The company is one of a small number of financial services institutions that have tried to capitalise on their anti-offshoring stance by turning it into a selling point for customers concerned about the loss of UK jobs and quality of service. In January this year, Nationwide chief executive Philip Williamson said that despite the savings associated with offshoring, there are too many risks. Backing up this approach, Nationwide has opened its new 180-person call centre in Sheffield with the help of a £200,000 government grant. The move brings the number of staff at existing UK call centres in Swindon, Swansea and Northampton to 900. A recent survey by the CBI showed that an increasing number of companies are facing pressures to offshore. The research found that one in five cited the pressures to offshore were ‘very great’, up from 14 per cent the year before, with cost reductions reported as the number one priority.
