Serco, the international service company, has announced that it has been awarded a new partnership agreement with Freemans Grattan Holdings (FGH), the UK arm of the world's largest distance selling organisation - the Otto Group.

Under the 10 year contract valued at £55m, Serco will provide customer contact services for all FGH’s UK brands including Grattan, Freemans, Oli, Kaleidoscope, Look Again, bon prix, Curvissa and Witt International, managing seven million customer contacts every year.

The contact centre in Sheffield will be operated by Serco and will deliver all aspects of customer contact including customer enquiries, inbound and outbound sales, credit applications, payments, order processing, white mail and e-mail handling. Steps will be taken by Serco to capitalise on the potential for further development of the dedicated Sheffield-based resource, with the introduction of best in class working practices, and with the ambition to broaden the services delivered from the facility by attracting additional customers

The new partnership will see all 400 existing members of staff transfer to Serco, with their terms and conditions protected.

“An effective and responsive customer contact centre is absolutely essential for a company like ours that has more than seven million customer contacts every year,” says Koert Tulleners, CEO of FGH. We’re very pleased to be joining forces with Serco as it is a company that continues to set ever higher standards in contact centre management and development. Indeed, I believe this new partnership presents a great opportunity for all our existing contact centre staff and will help not only to ensure that all of our customers receive the best possible service at all times, but will also provide the scope to capitalise on the spare capacity within our purpose-designed facility in Sheffield."