VERTEX SIGNS CONTRACT WITH BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL
Vertex, the customer management outsourcing business of United Utilities PLC, has been awarded a five-year multi-million pound contract to provide customer contact services to Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority in the UK serving a population of over 1.1 million.
When the contract commences in March 2002, Vertex will provide contact services from a new purpose-built call centre in Birmingham which will deploy Frontline, a leading multi-lingual, multi-channel relationship management solution.
This strategically significant contract enhances Vertex's portfolio in public sector outsourcing, a market which is expected to provide substantial further opportunities to grow the business. Vertex currently provides a housing benefits service for the London Borough of Ealing, whilst its first central government contract, at Companies House, was successfully mobilised earlier this year.
Chief Executive of United Utilities, John Roberts, said: 'I am delighted that Vertex has secured this contract, which represents an important further step in developing Vertex's public sector activities. We believe that the market for public sector outsourced front and back office services is set to grow substantially and Vertex is well-positioned to build on its current portfolio.'
Notes to Editors: 1. Vertex is a business process outsourcer specialising in customer management. It provides outsourced services for utility, telecommunications, financial services, retail and public sector clients.
2. Vertex operates at 26 locations nationally and employs 8,000 people, mainly customer contact centres and information services.
3. Each year Vertex handles over 14 million customer accounts, takes over 120 million phone calls, processes over 93 million transactions and collects in excess of £6 billion payments.
4. Clients include Marks & Spencer Direct, JD Williams, Littlewoods Bet Direct, Orange, BRS/Volvo, Cable & Wireless, TXU Energi and the trainline.com.