|
National Australia Group will invest A$216 million £80 million) in a new European Telephone Banking Centre.
The centre will be based in Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, Scotland.
The facility at Rowallan Business Park will handle telephone inquiries and sales from customers of Clydesdale, Yorkshire, Northern and National Irish Banks following the opening of the centre in the European summer of 2001.
The investment uses the National Australia Group's global partner Concert and strategic partner Merchants - a wholly owned subsidiary of Dimension Data. It will enhance the Group's existing call centre operation in the United Kingdom, which is already operating at full capacity.
This expansion will provide the capability to offer the full range of banking facilities to all of the Group's customers across Europe on a progressive basis from the end of 2001.
Stuart Grimshaw, the Chief Executive of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, said: "I'm delighted we will be working closely with both Concert and Merchants and will be able to build on their considerable experience in this field. The new centre will incorporate state of the art technology and business processes which will mean an improved service and experience for our customers".
Cathy Martine, President of Global Accounts for Concert, said: "Concert is delighted to be able to support such an important development for one of our key global clients. Working with NAB all over the world, we are delivering to them the innovative solutions they need with a strong local presence."
Harry Richardson, Chairman of Merchants Limited, said: "We are excited to be part of such an important new initiative within Scotland, and to be able to bring our extensive customer contact management experience and innovative expertise to this venture."
About National Bank
National Australia Bank Group, (NAB) is an international financial services group operating across four continents and 15 countries including Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Asia. NAB has an asset base of over A$250 billion, assets under administration of over A$400 billion, almost twelve million customers globally and is ranked as one of the 50 largest banks in the world. Members of the group in Europe are Clydesdale Bank in Glasgow, Yorkshire Bank in Leeds, Northern Bank in Belfast and National Irish Bank in Dublin. Further information at www.national.com.au.
About Concert
Concert, (www.concert.com) the US$7 billion global venture of AT&T and BT, serves the global communications needs of business customers worldwide. It is the industry' s pre-eminent "carriers' carrier," providing wholesale transborder services to fixed and wireless carriers, including at& amp; t and bt, as well as internet service providers worldwide. in addition, concert offers a comprehensive portfolio of voice, data and internet services to customers through a direct sales force serving 270 multinational customers (mncs). through its network of 50-plus distributors, it also serves an additional targeted base of 29, 000 customers worldwide. concert 's frame relay network serves every major city in the United States and the United Kingdom, and extends to over 200 cities in more than 60 countries. Its global public network directly reaches 237 countries, and its high-speed IP backbone network spans 21 cities in 17 countries.
About Merchants
Merchants, has been chosen as NAG' s strategic partner following a comprehensive selection process. they are part of the dimension data group of companies and one of europe 's leading communication centre providers with more than 60 industry awards to date.
Further information, please contact:
Brandon Phillips
Group Manager
Corporate Media Relations
Tel: (03) 8641 3857
Mobile: 0419 369 058
|
