MORE than 1,200 call centre workers at British Gas in Southampton have been promised there are no plans to export their jobs abroad.

The top-level assurance will come as a huge relief to employees, whose phone-reliant operations perform exactly the type of work vulnerable to being taken on by countries like India and China at a far cheaper rate.

There is also another good news boost - Business South has learnt that British Gas has just created an extra 100 part-time jobs in the city.

A recruitment drive is now under way in a bid to find people for morning or evening shifts, with flexible hours and four-day or five-day work patterns.

British Gas is a major player in Southampton, employing around 1,500 local people, with the majority involved in call centre work.

The Southampton office answers in the region of six million telephone inquiries and 750,000 written inquiries about both gas and electricity from customers all over the UK.

The jitters set in both nationally and locally at all types of call centre because of the increasing trend by big companies to switch production to cheaper places abroad, with workers feeling increasingly exposed.

As previously reported by Business South, trade unions have given dire warnings that more than 200,000 jobs from the UK could be relocated to Asia by 2009.

Aviva, which owns Norwich Union, HSBC and Lloyds TSB are the latest batch of companies to switch operations abroad, with the loss of 7,000 jobs in the UK, including more than 100 in Southampton alone.

But British Gas managing director Mark Clare said: "We have no plans to move British Gas UK jobs overseas and we remain committed to our UK operations, as we continue to invest in delivering our strategy of becoming an outstanding service organisation.

"We have opened two major new call centres in the UK this year and are investing hundreds of millions of pounds in computer systems that will help us give ever higher standards of service to our 20 million customers.

"We have no plans to move British Gas activities overseas."

Meanwhile, British Gas general manager Andy Eley said his team are on the lookout for people to fill 100 posts.

He said: "Many highly-skilled and experienced people may until now have been missing out on the chance of a career due to their own personal commitments at home."

All new employees will undergo an intensive training course to ensure they are fully equipped to answer a variety of customer inquiries.

Anybody wanting more information about a career in British Gas should contact 0800 9173453.