Call centre firm 'to create up to 600 Isle of Wight jobs'

Ascensos employs 1,200 staff in Scotland, the Netherlands and Romania

A call centre company has said it will create up to 600 jobs by opening its first UK base outside Scotland.

Ascensos said it planned to open a centre in Cowes, Isle of Wight, in September.

It said the base would initially create 400 jobs, serving an unnamed "major online and high street retailer".

The island council said it had agreed to invest £2.1m developing the centre in order to attract a £35m investment by the firm.

'Future prosperity'

The authority said the money would help to establish "identified commercial premises" and generate increased revenues from business rates and council tax.

Council leader Dave Stewart said the investment would create "quality jobs" and "promote the future prosperity of our local economy".

Founded in 2013, Ascensos employs 1,200 staff at a contact centre in Motherwell and two in Clydebank, along with operations in the Netherlands and Romania.

The council said outsourced call centre jobs were increasingly being brought back to the UK "due to expressed customer preference in dealing with English first language speakers".