Call Centre move 'way to help Christchurch'

By Marta Steeman, Business Day.

A large Australian company is interested in shifting its call centre in Sydney to Christchurch as a way of contributing to employment in Christchurch after the earthquakes.

John Gilbert, part of a worldwide network of chief executives of which the Australian company is a member, said the company was "actively interested" and exploring the possibility which had the potential to bring with it about 40 jobs.

Gilbert chairs two groups of business leaders in Australia who are members of the worldwide business leaders support network for chief executives called The Executive Connection (TEC). It has 16,000 members internationally. Membership has some confidentiality, so Gilbert said he could not name the company considering relocating the call centre.

Christchurch was also likely to be a more economical place to run the call centre.

Gilbert said TEC1, the oldest group with 18 members from some of Australia's biggest companies, decided to do something tangible for the nine TEC members who form TEC704 in Christchurch, after the destructive February 22 earthquake.

They contacted TEC704, set up and chaired by recruitment specialist Barry Knight, to ask how they could help, and they decided that one of the Australian members would visit each month at his own cost to attend their meeting and contribute to the monthly discussions. These discussions at TEC are confidential, with chief executives discussing difficult corporate and personal issues they are dealing with.

Funds were also raised by TEC1 and put to good use for Christchurch members for such things as rental vehicles and rented temporary cabins.

Gilbert said the TEC1 group also wanted to learn from the Christchurch businesses experience.

"You are never well prepared enough for a crisis."