The UK’s contact centre industry celebrated its first National Contact Centre Day yesterday, 4 March, with thousands of professionals from a variety of organisations coming together to shine a spotlight on the vital role the sector plays in society and the economy.
The theme for this year’s National Contact Centre Day was Contact Centre as a Career, with many organisations hosting events to showcase the career opportunities that exist within their respective contact centre operations.
Among them were financial solutions provider Novuna, which invited students from Leeds City College into their Leeds-based head office to hold ‘Next Gen’ workshops – showcasing the “real skills behind contact centre roles”, and “the teamwork, the emotional intelligence, the problem solving and the career paths” on offer to younger generations looking at entry-level roles and their first jobs.
Others including global healthcare provider Bupa hosted internal careers fairs that included a ‘role shop marketplace’, talks from senior leaders and ‘speed mentoring’ sessions for the hundreds of advisors already based within their Salford HQ.
Many organisations incorporated fun into their day’s activities too, including McDonald’s which brought its People Services Helpdesk team together to play novel games such as ‘Pin the Headset on the Advisor’ and ‘Guess the Celebrity who Started in a Contact Centre’.
Southampton Football Club celebrated National Contact Centre Day by asking their first team players Flynn Downes, Ross Stewart, George Long and Taylor Harwood-Bellis to be in charge of their phones for the morning, taking calls with supporters and asking them to rate their customer service skills after each interaction.
“National Contact Centre Day has proven to be more than an opportunity to celebrate the people and the opportunities in our industry. Yesterday we opened our doors to others and were able to showcase the valuable work that we do for business and for society,” says Leigh Hopwood, CEO of the CCMA (Contact Centre Management Association), the organisation behind the day.
“Contact centres can often be misrepresented in wider society, so to see so many organisations taking time out to share the passion, diversity, innovation and positivity of those that work in their contact centre operations is hugely gratifying. More people will now better understand what our sector is all about, which is a fantastic outcome. Roll on next year’s events!”
The second National Contact Centre Day will take place on 3 March 2027.
Contact centres – traditionally referred by the wider populus as call centres – are a leading industry employer in the UK. It is stated that there are over 800,000 people employed in contact centres nationwide, representing around 3% of the UK workforce.
For more information visit: www.nationalcontactcentreday.com.
For any queries about how to get involved next year and for any media opportunities, email the CCMA’s Communications Manager, Chris Ward via: chris@ccma.org.uk.
