South African society shares a deep cultural and linguistic bond with its British and Australian counterparts. A number of BPO firms have taken advantage of this similarity to deliver superior customer service for the customers in the UK and Australian markets. UK-based customer experience company Webhelp is the latest BPO firm to jump aboard the bandwagon, deciding to ditch the traditional BPO destinations and start their operations in South Africa.
The company, which has reinforced its position in the pan-European customer experience market with its recent acquisition of HEROtsc, announced that it is going to open a 7,500 square meter state of the art facility in Cape Town, and a 4,500 square meter site in Johannesburg.
Webhelp’s entrance turns out to be a boon for the South African job market, as the company has disclosed its intension of hiring 1000 contact center professionals in the country over the next 12 months.
Webhelp UK has reportedly won some new contracts and made new hires at many of its UK sites. It currently employs 6,000 people across 10 sites and serves such brands as Sky and Vodafone (News - Alert). The company has reported 36 percent revenue growth in the 12 months leading up to March 31st, 2013, reaching approximately $18 million. Recently it announced its plan to expand its business through a series of strategic acquisitions in the UK.
The South African operation, named Webhelp South Africa, is expected to emulate the success in the new continent. The South African venture hopes to give the company the ability to service international contracts, operating a blended onshore, offshore and near shore model, officials explained in a statement.
“The similarity of the professional qualifications and the compatibility of the data protection laws make South Africa an excellent partner location for Webhelp UK. The country is particularly attractive because, alongside a stable regulatory environment, there is a talented workforce with high standards of customer experience knowledge,” noted Peter Ryan, industry analyst at Ovum (News - Alert), in a statement.
“All of our research tells us that South Africa can deliver an equivalent customer experience to the UK for certain processes. We firmly believe that our UK, Romanian and South Africa capability gives us the best possible blend of off, near and onshore capabilities,” CEO of Webhelp UK David Turner noted in a statement.
Edited by Blaise McNamee