A decade ago, hardly anyone in the UK knew what a call centre was. Today, there are up to 4000 employing more than 400 000 people. The location of new centres depends largely on the availability of potential employees.
The average British call centre has about 500 workstations. They vary enormously in size, type and specification, from large, purpose-designed offices to smaller spaces "installed" in standard speculative offices; standards vary from basic to top quality.
Demand for mega-centres employing thousands is expected to decline. Smaller operators can easily be accommodated in existing modern office buildings that have raised floors, air conditioning and structured cabling. Advances in technology allow incoming calls to be easily re-routed or distributed to multiple smaller locations where staff are available – another factor driving down the average size of centres.
Despite the UK's dominance of the European market, Britain is still in its early evolutionary stage, says the Call Centre Association. In the USA, more than 3% of the working population is now employed in call centres. If the UK follows the same pattern, up to one million people may eventually be working in more than 10 000 centres.
The key cost factors of operation are staff salaries, recruitment, training, and rates of absenteeism and staff retention. Many call centres struggle to retain staff and the cost of recruiting and training can account for a high proportion of total salaries. Operators are consequently placing far more emphasis on design and recreational areas to retain staff.
Most call centres do not operate 24 hours a day, although many operate shift systems, and most are in action 12-17 hours on weekdays, with weekend cover.
Case study one: Prudential Banking, Point North, Dudley compared with Egg, Pride Park, Derby
The following case study looks at Prudential's call centre in Dudley and Egg's communications centre in Derby, developed by the same team. It highlights the lessons the team learned from the development of the Dudley centre, and how these were applied to the Egg communications centre.
Prudential, Point North, Dudley
Prudential Banking's first major call centre was installed within a speculative six-floor office block, known as Point North, built in 1992 by Richardson Developments at Merry Hill in Dudley.
When the client's team first inspected the shell-and-core development in late 1995, its brief was still loose. Initially, it decided to fit out about 6000 m2 of space on three floors. This would provide room for about 750 workstations. If telephone banking really took off, it would extend the fit-out to the three floors above, for a further 2400 m2 of work space.
With flexibility and speed in mind, the client opted for construction management and work began on site in January 1996.
The building had a concrete frame with precast concrete floor slabs and a storey height of 4.6 m, suitable for a high service level. The facade is a mixture of curtain walling and brickwork.
The 450 mm raised floor was used for electric, fibre-optic cabling and displacement ventilation ductwork, creating a totally flexible layout. Heating and cooling is by a displacement ventilation and static cooling system, where fresh air is ducted beneath the raised floor and through floor vents. Hot air rises to meet chilled ceilings hidden behind metal panels. The additional heat load at the perimeter – mainly caused by solar gain – is cooled by chilled beams, and stale air is extracted through the light fittings.
The first phase took eight months to fit out, and the second began in May 1997. Throughout the second phase, the construction team had to time work carefully and minimise noise and dust, so that the existing centre could continue to be inhabited. With careful planning – for example, by gluing skirtings on instead of nailing them, and using thermally welded plastic pipework instead of metal – Prudential managed to get the job done during working hours, saving about £1m in overtime costs. This phase was completed in December 1997.
Egg, Pride Park, Derby
The Egg building in Derby is one of the largest purpose-designed communications centres ever completed in the UK. At almost 15 000 m2, the building can accommodate up to 1250 workstations and ancillary support facilities.
Speed of delivery and a flexible interior was critical for Prudential Banking, which was also client at Pride Park. As a result, the building was procured using construction management and most of the structure was built and fitted out in less than a year.
Most of the Pride Park redevelopment has been constructed on seriously contaminated land, so a full methane barrier was installed under the foundations. The project was a catalyst for regeneration in the area, attracting further investment and development.
The size and layout of each wing of the main building – an almost-square, column-free space to accommodate at least 550 employees – was determined by Egg's workstation configuration of clusters of 11.
The steel-framed shell is clad with Kingspan panelling and curtain walling with a storey height of 10 m. A huge 42 m span provides the ultimate in internal flexibility.
A raised floor with a 600 mm void accommodates the electrical tracking, fibre-optic cabling and displacement ventilation ductwork. Users can access data, telecoms and power virtually anywhere within the building.
The large interior covers an area the size of two football pitches – indeed, during the topping-out ceremony, the contractors held an indoor football tournament within one wing. Two wings are now fitted out with about 550 workstations in each. Each workstation takes up, on average, 5.9 m2.
Computer and support facilities represent some 2600 m2 of space and a similar area has been set aside for training and the staff restaurant. Printing, imaging and post rooms occupy nearly 2000 m2, along with a 1921 m2 plant room.
All staff enter through turnstiles and the building is equipped with a high level of security. Duplicate power supplies, generators, transformers, uninterrupted power supply systems and computer rooms ensure that operations can be maintained around the clock.
The main halls have eight relaxation areas for employees' breaks. These areas are all 7.5 × 7.5 × 7.5 m – roughly the same size as a domestic house. All are fitted out like café bars and some are themed: one, for example, has the look of a Tuscan castle. Others are equipped with pool tables, arcade machines and table football.
Four of the eight spaces are designed to be quiet, reflective spaces, ideal for reading or relaxation; the others are noisy, vibrant spaces where people can let off steam.
Lighting and audiovisual installations are hung from 6 m high, full-width theatre gantries. Between the gantries, coloured banners add a strong visual element and act as acoustic baffles. The main entrance atrium is the focal point for meetings and is planted with three 8 m tall trees. A dramatic staircase sweeps up to conference areas, training suites and the restaurant.
The building shell took six months to complete. The fit-out has been phased over the last year, with the south wing opening in March and the north wing in June.
The whole-life cost of the two centres is analysed here. Finance costs are 5%.
Learning from experience
Experience gained from the Dudley project taught the development team important lessons for the Derby project:
Case study two: model retail banking call centre compared with Egg, Pride Park, Derby The whole-life cost of the business infrastructure of a model retail banking call centre is compared with the whole-life cost of the Egg centre at Pride Park.
The model call centre is a 5500 m2, two-storey steel-framed building with 450 workstations. It has a mixed level of finishes.
We have assumed it is located on a 3.5 acre site in the north-east Midlands and has 200 car parking spaces.
The building contains relaxation and catering areas, training and conference facilities and "mental agility" rooms. The call centre area itself accounts for 49% of the total.
Citex believes this model centre reflects the latest operational and economic drivers behind retail banking call-centre development. It is smaller than the Egg building at Derby, reflecting the current trend for smaller centres. Indeed, many call centre operators now prefer several small centres to one huge facility.
There is a strong emphasis on staff facilities and relaxation areas to mitigate stress and maximise staff retention. Natural light is allowed in, with minimal glare on monitor screens. The layout is flexible so it can be adapted for other uses, should requirements change. The design allows for minimal costs of internal churn and meets institutional standards for commercial office space.
Capital and finance
The fit-out costs include furniture and fees. Legal charges, abnormal ground conditions, VAT and capital allowances are excluded. Finance costs have been assumed at 5%.
Occupancy
These costs have been estimated at today's prices over 25 years. The costs are assumed to be price-neutral and no allowance has been made for changes in market conditions or legislation.
The costs include planned and cyclical maintenance, cleaning, external landscaping, 24-hour security, 18-hour helpdesk, porterage, post room, internal planting, external landscaping, churn, IT and management. Churn is based on 15% internal move rate.
IT and communications
Software licensing, user and network support, supplementary consumables and hardware (PCs and printers), call costs and line rental are included in these costs: IT project management and research and development expenditure are excluded. The cyclical maintenance costs make no allowance for technological advancements.
How infrastructure design and provision of facilities affects staff retention
The most significant expenditure in call-centre operation is staff. The table, right, shows the typical total staff costs of a theoretical retail banking operation and how staff retention affects operational expenditure. The costs are based on Citex's model building and typical salary levels for similar call centres.
The training period for retail banking staff is up to 16 weeks – a significant investment – so retaining staff considerably reduces operational costs. Average staff tenure rates for centres varies from three months to five years.
Improving the quality of the working environment (including facilities and services) to mitigate the effects of operator stress is critical in staff retention, so additional expenditure on relaxation or catering areas, parking spaces or a staff gym is good for business.
Methodology
These costs have been compiled by John Lynchehaun of Citex Consulting, Simon Whelan of Citex Project Delivery and Brendan Patchell of Citex Bucknall Austin.
The figures are based on the Citex Bucknall Austin database of capital cost and the occupancy details of the Citex portfolio, which extends to 3 000 000 m2 of property across the UK. For more details, contact John Lynchehaun on 0171-614 8300, Brendan Patchell or Simon Whelan on 0121-200 2282.
