NTL to axe 1,500 staff

Cable company NTL is to axe 1,500 call-centre jobs, in a twist that is likely to anger those who already struggle to get through to an operator on the beleaguered firm's helpline.

The lay-offs are as a result of the closure of 10 out of 13 call centres across the UK, in locations such as Belfast, Brighton, Cambridge, Glasgow and Winnersh.

Sites elsewhere in the country, in Coventry, Luton, Nottingham and Teesside, will see major lay-offs but will retain skeleton staff to remain operational.

According to reports, NTL hopes the high natural turnover of call-centre staff will bring about natural attrition during the next 18 months but the likelihood of an entire call centre's staff deciding it's time to move on is slight and some redundancies will be necessary.

Simon Duffy, the NTL chief executive, said: "NTL has made good progress in improving its customer service, but we still have some way to go."

While many customers may claim that is an understatement, it is unclear how laying off 1,500 staff will improve matters.

However, Duffy claimed in a statement that "consolidation of [its] call centres and investment in leading-edge technology" will improve matters for NTL's famously unhappy customers.