Swansea call centre worker becomes the industry voice

Feb. 21, 2013 - PRLog -- Heledd Owen, 29, works for the Save Britain Money group on Swansea Enterprise Park. She was persuaded to enter the national competition after colleagues praised her soothing phone manner and recommended her to managers at SBM. From there she gave a reading to a panel of internal judges headed by CEO Nev Wilshire and was duly entered, along with her colleague Stephen James, into the competition as representatives of Save Britain Money.

The voice competition was organised by buzzwales.com and attracted entries from across Wales. The judges were looking for an individual whose voice best communicated the necessary qualities to represent the contact centre industry and promote it as an exciting place to work. The prize for the winner was to star in an advertising campaign including radio, billboards and bus advertising.

When it came to entering Heledd, a poet and actress who plays the part of Rhiannon Hughes in Pobol y Cwm, decided on an unusual form of entry. Instead of the requested page on why she loved her job, Heledd decided to submit a poem about life in the call centre that she wrote especially for the competition.  

The poem had the desired effect and Heledd was informed she had made the shortlist. The final stage was a telephone interview with the judges who quizzed Heledd about her job and asked her to perform a live reading of her poem. After a nail biting 24 hour wait, Heledd received confirmation that she was to be the voice of the contact centre industry.

With the news still sinking in, Heledd travelled to Cardiff this week for her first photo shoot and is now eagerly waiting for the first advert to appear in March. Heledd said of her win:

“It is still sinking in, I only found out I had won 3 days ago and have already done a shoot with a photographer. Everyone at work is being really supportive, although I have been warned not to become a diva! I love my job at Save Britain Money and hope I can use this to encourage others to give it a try, it is a job that people from all kinds of backgrounds can be good at.”

Nev Wilshire was also delighted with Heledd’s success, “I think Heledd is a great choice, she is bubbly and enthusiastic, loves talking to the public and has a great Welsh voice, if this campaign encourages people who have never considered call centres as a career to give it a go, it will have been a real success.”

ENDS

Notes for editor:

·         Save Britain Money is the parent company for Nationwide Energy Services, We Claim U Gain, Billscutter, Save Me My Money, HIS Energy, Debts Reduced, and Fuelswitch.com.  

·         The group has its headquarters in Swansea employing in excess of 900 people.