By Emily Parsons

Published at 11:31, Monday, 10 September 2012

TEN years and 18 million calls later, an award-winning call centre is proving its worth.

The United Utilities’ contact centre in Whitehaven officially opened its phone lines on September 6, 2002, and has gone from strength-to-strength.

Roberto Stephenson, team manager responsible for the centre’s operational performance, has been with the team since day one.

In fact, the 32-year-old, of Bowthorn Road, Cleator Moor, answered the very first call a decade ago.

“I applied to work here because I wanted job security,” he explained. “My son had just been born and I thought being a brand new site there would be excellent opportunities.

“I'm still really proud to be part of the team and thankful to have been at this lovely site since day one.”

Hundreds of staff at the centre took part in celebrations at the purpose-built contact centre, on North Shore Road, on Thursday.

Since its launch, the centre has won many accolades, and was named a sector leader in The Times Top 50 call centres in 2009.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk