Firm to grow Masterton workforce

CHANGE OF SCENE: Powershop will operate from purpose-built premises in Kuripuni from Monday and is aiming to almost double its workforce. Pictured is customer service manager Rod McIntyre, framed by a porthole window looking into the new staff cafeteria.PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Online electricity retailer Powershop will run an expanded contact centre out of purpose-built Masterton premises from Monday as the company looks to nearly double its workforce to 120 employees and widen its global reach to Britain.

The 51 per cent New Zealand state-owned company was founded in 2007 and within two years had launched its call centre in Masterton, employing 14 telephone operators.

The firm, which claimed to be the first in the world to offer customers an interchangeable choice of power brands online, opened the Masterton centre as a means of keeping overheads and staff turnover low, according to chief executive Ari Sargent.

Mr Sargent said Powershop today employs 76 people in Masterton and has, since 2009, worked from a floor in the Departmental Building in Chapel St.

From Monday the company will work from premises in Kuripuni, purpose-built by Masterton property developer David Borman.

He said the shift to Kuripuni comes at a time when the firm "continues to grow in Australia and prepares to enter the UK market".

The present call-centre team services more than 100,000 customers across New Zealand and Australia, he said, and the company aims to double its number of Masterton-based employees "in the medium term".

Mr Sargent said locating contact centres in regional New Zealand "is a smart move other technology companies should emulate".

"Conventional wisdom says you can't find the right talent in smaller centres. This has led to companies outsourcing contact centres offshore or locating them in large cities," he said.

"We've found the opposite to be true. Regional towns with affordable housing and growing employment opportunities are ideal for contact centres. They have young, well-educated workforces and overheads are lower than in the cities."

Mr Sargent said staff turnover remained low and "engagement is high" among its Masterton staff. Powershop has led the industry in customer satisfaction ratings since it launched in 2009, which Mr Sargent said was due "in large part" to its contact centre.

"We've attracted great talent in Masterton and their level of expertise is a credit to them. In return, we've tried to make working here meaningful and enjoyable."

Regional development consultant Jenni Giblin said the Powershop move was an example of the economic renaissance taking place in many regional towns in New Zealand.

"Regional growth is being driven by the ability to attract people and develop high-value industries. More firms should follow Powershop's lead and help make our regional towns real 21st century living environments," she said.