Vodafone cuts 121 staff with Burton site closure

Vodafone is to shut down its Business Services Centre in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, by next March, with a number of positions set to be cut.

According to the Burton Mail, which first reported the story, staff at the facility learned of their fate on Wednesday, with 121 jobs put at risk of redundancy, although the mobile services giant hopes it will be able to redeploy a good number into other roles.

The decision came following a review of properties and estates across the UK after Vodafone’s acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide, the firm said.

Cable & Wireless Worldwide was formed in 2010 after the split of parent Cable & Wireless into two different firms.

It focused on supplying network services such as managed voice, data and IP services to enterprises, government, carriers and reseller channels, before being acquired by Vodafone in 2012 for £1bn. Its integration was completed in 2013.

In a statement sent to Computer Weekly, a Vodafone spokesperson said: “The review recommended investing our resources in a creating a smaller number of state-of-the-art, specialist Centres of Excellence, focused on customer services and technology.

“These centres will bring people and skills together in the same locations - in new and refurbished buildings which incorporate our Better Ways of Working concept - so they can work better to provide the highest level of service for our customers.”

The newspaper reported that Vodafone hopes to base a number of its Centres of Customer Excellence within striking distance of the town, in Manchester, Stoke and Newark.