In contrast to the UK's business-friendly environment, Delta recently closed a 100-seat call center in another European country and consolidated its activity into the London facility. "We couldn't monitor phone calls there, and we couldn't do performance evaluations," Kahler explains.

In Northern Ireland, the cost per square foot for call center accommodation is among the lowest in Europe, the IBB's Baines says. "That's driving huge growth in call centers. The other attraction there is that you have very highly qualified graduates who are looking to develop their careers in Northern Ireland, rather than move," he adds. "Northern Ireland is recognized as having one of the most focused and effective education systems anywhere, and scores from the examinations everyone takes at 16 are higher there than anywhere else in the UK. And average turnover is only 7 percent. Not many European locations can get anywhere near that, even without this quality of labor."

Scotland and the North of England have built the envied reputation of being the first-choice location for large call center operations on the other side of the Atlantic, Baines reports, adding that they have high levels of productivity, plus well-developed sales and service infrastructure built on the most competitive telecoms platform in Europe. "There's been mass unemployment from mining, steel and other heavy industry," he says. "That's provided a large source of labor." Sky, the satellite TV company, operates Europe's biggest call center there, and British Telecom (AT&T's global alliance partner) has built its mass-market infrastructure in the region, employing over 5,000 agents. QVC is also among the companies recognizing the local benefits in cities such as Liverpool.

Furthermore, the UK has substantial employment cost advantages over most other European countries in respect to basic wage rates of non-manual workers. That benefit is even greater when the social costs of labor are added, and gross employment costs can be up to 15 percent to 25 percent higher in other parts of Europe.

New call center moves in the UK include Air France, which chose London for a 200-employee European call center. Initially handling only UK and Irish sales, the facility later took on sales for six other countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland).

"Air France chose London from a shortlist of three European cities because it is one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities and is ideal for the recruitment of multilingual staff," says Frederic Verdier, who heads the new facility.

Charles Schwab Europe has selected Milton Keynes, in southeast England, for a new call center that will involve an initial investment of $48 million. "The center reflects the enormous success we have had since we entered the UK," says Chief Executive Bob Duste. "We expect to build on this success as we continue to bring new innovative products to the market and, as a result, we need to maintain a level of customer service that is second to none."

Orange, a Hong Kong-based digital mobile telephone operator, has recently announced plans to open four new call centers in England. Three of them will be located in northeast England, with the fourth -- a 64,700-sq.-ft. (6,000-sq.-m.), 1,000-employee operation -- situated in Plymouth, in southwest England.

"The four new call centers will enable us to meet demand, maintain our high standards and continue to deliver the best customer service in the industry," says Bob Fuller, the firm's chief operating officer.

In other activity, Halifax Group -- the UK's market leader in mortgages and savings -- is to create 1,500 new jobs in Belfast with the opening of a major new customer service center that will be Northern Ireland's biggest. Construction on the 150,000-sq.-ft. (13,935-sq.-m.) building should be complete by the end of 2000.

At the announcement, Dr. Marjorie Mowlam, MP and former secretary of state for Northern Ireland, said the project is a highly significant investment not only because of its size, but also because of the quality of the jobs it will provide. "Halifax has a strong commitment to training and development, and Belfast will be one of the key centers upon which it will build for the new millennium, including its proposed developments in e-commerce," she said.