By Business & Finance The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, today announced that Eishtec, the customer contact solution provider, is to continue its remarkable growth story with the creation of a further 250 jobs for its sites in Waterford and Wexford by mid-2014.
The company has won another contract to provide smart phone technical support in the UK which will allow for the creation of the jobs.
Eishtec, founded by Colm Tracey, Brian Barry and Heather Reynolds, started trading in May 2011 with just nine employees, but the awarding of this contract brings their headcount, currently at 700, to 950 people by the middle of 2014. Recruitment for the new positions has already started.
Minister Bruton said: “We have repeatedly said that at the very centre of the Government’s plan for jobs and growth is creating a powerful engine of Irish business. If we are to create the jobs we need, we must not only drive the continued growth of the multinational sector, but also crucially support more Irish companies to start-up, export more, grow faster and create more jobs.
“Eishtec is a remarkable example of what we are trying to achieve. When the South East’s employment difficulties hit their peak in 2011 and we sat down to address them, many people called for the Government to bring more multinational employers to the area, and we have had some important successes in that field. However the major contribution to addressing this issue has been provided by Irish businesses and in particular Eishtec. This is an Irish company started in 2011, growing rapidly in export markets, and deriving its success from the ingenuity of its founders, the quality of the staff and the support of Government and the local community.
“In the South East, as across the country, we have a long way to go but we can have confidence that we are on the right path. I cannot commend Eishtec, its founders and staff highly enough. Great plaudits are also due to Enterprise Ireland. I pledge continued support from Government and wish every continued success for the future.”
Heather Reynolds, co-founder and operations director of Eishtec said: “The rapid growth of the business has been challenging but not entirely surprising. Our company mission is to challenge the standards of service.Therefore at Eishtec we have a particular approach to providing customer service that delivers a performance and experience that our clients, and their customers, love.
“Not only are people recruited and trained to the highest level, but we also take a scientific approach to each call and the results of this are clearly seen in the how the customers view us – evidenced by sales levels and customer loyalty scores such as Net Promoter (NPS) ” she added. “It is this higher level of performance that has driven the growth.”
Eishtec uses Lean methodologies supported by data analytics to derive business and customer insight and drive improvements from the thousands of calls they receive each day. This approach identifies the aspects of the contact that the customer values and reinforces them while removing the things that both the company and the customer see as waste.
Brian Barry, Eishtec’s financial director, commented: “With Lean’s emphasis on standardisation, continuous quality improvement, cost reduction and efficiency, its adoption has been a great success for us from a customer and commercial perspective. The performance we have achieved from it can be directly related to the new 250 jobs created. We would also like to acknowledge Enterprise Ireland’s support on this project.”
Julie Sinnamon, CEO designate of Enterprise Ireland added: ”Enterprise Ireland is delighted to support Eishtec’s continued expansion. This is a company that is led by an ambitious and innovative management team that have consistently demonstrated the highest commitment to customer service and excellence in delivery. This commitment is now reaping rewards as they continue to grow the business. Today’s announcement is great news for the South East, and I congratulate all at Eishtec on their achievement’.
The new positions will support UK customers on T-Mobile plans and tariffs.
