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Airdrie, Scotland, March 25, 2021 - Contact centre firm Teleperformance is to close its Airdrie site later this year.

The base at Victoria Park is being immediately mothballed, "with a view to closing at the end of 2021" following an estates review by the company.

Staff will instead be offered the option of working from home or relocating to one of the firm’s three facilities in Glasgow city centre.

Officials say the decision has been reached as four in every five members have been working from home for the past year following the coronavirus lockdown, and that "there are not expected to be any job losses".

Alex Neil MSP described the decision as "a real body blow for the Airdrie economy" and says he will be seeking assistance to bring new jobs to the town.

Teleperformance said in a statement: "Following a review of our estate options, we can confirm that our site at Victoria Park in Airdrie is being mothballed, with a view to closing at the end of 2021.

"At present, 80 per cent of people normally based here are working at home and have been since March 2020.

"There are not expected to be any job losses as a result of this decision and we will provide all people currently based at Airdrie with the choice either to work at home, if that is possible, or relocate to one of our Glasgow locations."

Staff at the Airdrie Teleperformance site provide customer service, technical support and order processing for various firms.

Airdrie and Glasgow are the company’s current Scottish bases, in addition to two in Northern Ireland and four in England; Teleperformance opened a site at City Park in Glasgow last year and add: "There are no plans to close any other sites in Scotland."

Mr Neil told the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser: "Although the company claims there will be no job losses, mothballing the Airdrie site will have an effect on our locality – Teleperformance employed many hundreds of people at its peak and the loss of their wages being spent locally is devastating.

"I will be contacting the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise to ask them to do all they can to bring new jobs and investment into Airdrie.

"The road and rail connections, along with the building of a new bypass and a new Monklands Hospital, make Airdrie a very attractive place to locate a business; we must exploit these opportunities to the full."

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Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk

Date Posted: Friday, March 26, 2021