6 November 2007

East Durham Family to Benefit From Contact Centre Training

The Laws family from Murton, are set to embark on new careers in the Contact Centre Industry after Father, Mother and Daughter all took part in contact centre training with local provider Contact Centre Professional.

It all started when father of the family, Barry Laws, 40, a former ice cream man, was forced to re-think his career options due to an injury.

Barry said: “I felt that contact centre work would be a great option as I have enjoyed working with customers in the past but I felt that I needed to learn more about working in a contact centre and to update my skills.”

Barry found out about the short course through the Jobcentre and decided to visit Contact Centre Professional.  He was impressed with their 81% success record of helping trainees to move into jobs following the course, so he started on the next available course.

During the training, Barry was going home and enthusiastically telling his wife and daughter about what he had been doing that day, so they too became interested in the training.  Weeks later, mother, Heather Laws, 38, and daughter Stacy Laws, 17, both started the course.

With a background in retail, manufacturing and caring, the prospect of the flexible shifts offered by the contact centre industry, attracted Heather.  For Stacy, who had just left school, this was an opportunity to learn new transferable skills and to begin her career.

Barry added: “I have really enjoyed learning new skills both on the theory and on the practical side of working in the industry.  All three of us plan to learn as much as we can and all be successful with new careers.

“Even our three year old daughter is learning new skills as she secured a funded place in a new nursery, while we are on the course.”

Acumen Development Trust have secured funding from Easington District Council’s Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to pay for 70 jobless people form the area to attend the course.