HCL grows in N Ireland

HCL Technologies has become the single largest business process outsourcing (BPO) operator in Northern Ireland with its acquisition of Answercall Direct contact centre in Northern Ireland for Rs 29.39 crore.

The contact centre was acquired by HCL's subsidiary in Northern Ireland, HCL Technologies BPO Service Ltd, from receivers, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

Answercall Direct had gone into receivership because it could not repay its loans.

"The Answercall Direct contact centre is spread over an area of 48,000 square feet. It has 400 seats at present and 400 additional seats can be added," Ranjit Narasimhan, Chief Operating Officer of HCL Technologies' global BPO operations said.

The latest acquisition adds 196 people and five clients, including the largest newspaper group in Northern Ireland, he said.

Post acquisition one in every 800 people in Northern Ireland will be a HCL employee.

The company just received a grant of 900,000 pounds from the Northern Ireland government for creating 200 jobs and is expecting a grant of additional three million pounds once it creates 400 additional jobs.