Contact centre firm Echo-U creating 400 jobs at two North East sites

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A North East company has created 400 new jobs after benefitting from a surge in online retailing during the pandemic.

Customer contact business Echo-U has been operating for more than 20 years from its headquarters in Newcastle and a second site in Bournemouth, which together employ more than 500 people.

The company – which counts the likes of DPD, JD Sports, First Direct, Sage and Parkdean Resorts among its cusomters – has now now opened an office in Middlesbrough, with 150 jobs being created.

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It is also hoping to add another 250 people to its Newcastle team.

The new roles have followed growth by existing clients, particularly in the online retail and parcel delivery sectors, with the pandemic having accelerated existing trends towards digital retail.

Echo-U co-founder David Blakey said: “As a native of the North East I’m proud to be able to play a part in creating 400 new jobs for our region. It’s an exciting time to be part of Echo-U and we are all looking forward to the opportunities and successes this expansion will bring.”

Echo-U has recently opened an office in Middlesbrough’s Gosford Street, in the Boho Zero area of town. It is taking on 150 new recruits but says it has space for further growth in the town.

The company was established in 2001 by Mr Blakey and Diana Bourke, providing customer contact solutions across inbound and outbound call centres, social media and webchat channels.

It expanded its office on Newcastle’s Quayside in 2017, at which point it also opened a site in Bournemouth to provide a location closer to customers in London and the South East.

The company says it looking for people who are “good communicators and like helping people”, and who should have basic IT and typing skills. It says it has good paths for progression, with a majority of its managers having started as customer service advisors.

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