Call Centers Weather Shifting Sands Of New Economy (page 5) -- Site Selection magazine, January 2001

Call Centers Weather Shifting Sands Of New Economy (cover)

Call Center Growth
on the Rise

New Economy =
New Facilities?

India Emerges
as Hot Spot

European Growth
Goes Exponential

Canada: North
America's Sweetheart

New US
Markets Emerge

Request Information

A SITE SELECTION SPECIAL FEATURE FROM JANUARY 2001

European Growth
Goes Exponential

India is not alone in its newfound growth. With Europe following slightly behind the US in terms of call center maturity and Internet usage, it's no wonder that companies from all around the world are looking to site new call centers there to take advantage of the e-tailing explosion that is about to happen. Frost & Sullivan reports that the number of call centers operating in Europe will grow from 1999's 12,750 to 28,289 in 2006.

European Call Center Trend
Results in New Alliance

With an estimated growth rate of 30-40 percent, it's an understatement to say that Europe's call center industry is in a growth mode. But as more companies set up call centers in Europe, it's becoming increasingly apparent that one size does not fit all.
As a result, many companies are establishing a network of regional call centers to deal with the various languages and cultures. To help companies do this, five European inward investment agencies have joined forces to create the European Call Center Alliance (ECCA at www.call-for-europe.com). ECCA helps companies patch together a network of call centers to serve different language territories. The five investment agencies are the Saarland Economic Promotion Corp., Manchester Investment & Development Agency Service, Invest in Sweden Agency, Ajuntament de Barcelona and Moselle Economic Development Agency.

The top five countries for call centers in 1999, according to Ernst & Young's European Investment Monitor, were the UK, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands and France. Hot metros like Dublin, The Hague and Amsterdam, however, have seen so much call center growth in recent years that they're reaching a saturation point. Dublin, in fact, has heated to a boiling point. "I would not recommend Dublin for any call centers, not even help desks," declared Shapiro in Call Center Magazine (www.callcentermagazine.com). "Cork [Ireland] is a better alternative but is getting hot quickly." He recommends smaller communities such as Donegal and Waterford.
Locating in smaller metropolitan areas is a call center trend that is occurring throughout Europe. The move is simply a tactic for avoiding the labor tightness now happening in many of the larger, capital cities.
Some companies are establishing networks of regional call centers in smaller European cities. Regional call centers can offer the economies of scale of pan-European centers with the ability to tap local labor forces and language skills.
Avis, for example, recently opened a 170-seat center in Barcelona, Spain, to serve customers in Southern Europe. Last June, the car rental firm also opened a 200-seat center in Salford Quays, west of Manchester, which will serve Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Together, these two operations replace eight European centers.

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