200 UK RAC call centre jobs moved to India

The RAC is cutting 200 jobs at a British call centre and transferring the work to India, it said today.

The jobs will go at the motoring organisation’s Bristol call centre, and are part of a rationalisation plan announced earlier this year.

The move comes after the RAC was bought by insurers Norwich Union, owned by Aviva, who have a number of call centres in India.

An RAC spokeswoman said the work transferred to India would be dealing with administrative calls, and people who break down would still be dealt with by staff in the UK.

She said: “When Norwich Union bought RAC in March we said the acquisition would result in off-shoring around 800 RAC jobs.

“Norwich Union has got a long track record in off-shoring call centre jobs and have a number of Indian call centres which are proving successful. It is down to cost we have to remain competitive.

“We have moved other workers to Bristol this year, it’s a question of looking at the skills mix to get the right workers in the right place.”

The RAC Rescue Centre in Bristol employs 975 people, with 420 involved in the call centre.

A 90-day consultation period will now begin with staff to discuss voluntary redundancies and redeployments.