Great Western Coffee Shop

Transport giant FirstGroup is to sell its customer contact arm FirstInfo in the new year, but assurances have been given that it is "business as usual" for 57 call centre employees in Fort William.

Subject to contract, Intelenet Global Services (IGS) will take over the FirstInfo contact centres at Fort William and Plymouth on January 10, 2010.

The centres handle calls and correspondence for First's rail customers, with 57 staff at Fort William and 191 staff providing services at Plymouth.

FirstGroup say no redundancies are planned as a result of the sale and staff will continue to carry out their work at both locations.

Staff were informed on Monday that it will be "business as usual" following the sale to IGS and that First has agreed a seven-year contract for its services.

The Fort William centre, at Glen Nevis Business Park, will continue to deal with customer enquiries, customer relations and ticket sales for ScotRail customers and Plymouth will handle calls and correspondence for First Great Western, First Capital Connect, First TransPennine Express and Hull Trains customers.

IGS employs 30,000 people and has contact centres across the world.

They serve hundreds of businesses in America, Australia, the UK, Europe and India, mainly in financial services, travel and transportation, hospitality, insurance, retail, and telecoms.

A communication and consultation process with staff is now under way in the run-up to the sale.

IGS say it is fully aware that ScotRail's work must be handled in Scotland and FirstInfo understands that IGS plans service improvements at Fort William and Plymouth.

Fort William handles 250,000 calls and 50,000 letters and emails a year.

Becky Simpson, FirstInfo's contact centre director, said: "It will be business as usual and the new contract with IGS will enable First to improve services to customers. IGS specialises in the delivery of contact centre services and there will be investments in new technology and processes at the centres. We will work closely with IGS over the coming months to improve service."