Financial products push will add call centre jobs at Santander’s Bootle base

Jul 30 2010 by Neil Hodgson, Liverpool Daily Post

Santander Bank on Bridle Road, Bootle

SANTANDER’S commercial banking operation in Bootle is expected to benefit from a recruitment drive announced by the Spanish group.

The UK arm is experiencing such positive growth that it has announced plans to add an extra 600 staff in the second half of the year to bolster its branch network and call centre operations.

One of its two main call centres is based at the Bridle Road site and a group spokesman said it is likely some of the new jobs would be earmarked for Bootle, but added it was too early to indicate just how many.

Antonio Horta-Osorio, Santander UK chief executive, said: “This investment demonstrates the success of our strategy, our commitment to customer service and our ongoing support for the UK economy.”

He announced the jobs fillip in a six month update to June 30 that showed further progress on first half profits and revenues and confirmation that it was on track to open a million new accounts for the second year in a row, making it second only to Lloyds in the savings market.