A Nantgarw contact centre has been awarded a £150,000 grant from the Wales Economic Growth Fund, creating 13 new jobs.
Connect Assist, a specialist supplier of helplines and digital services for charity and third sector organisations, has received the Welsh Government grant to support its expansion.
The Wales Economic Growth Fund is a Welsh Government initiative, set up to provide businesses and social enterprises with fast-track access to finance, encouraging business growth.
It has been awarded to the social enterprise in order to create 13 new jobs, bringing staff numbers to 104. Connect Assist will also invest in a new state-of-the-art cloud-based telephony system to improve its employees’ access to working from home.
Flexible working is a priority for the social business. 20% of its workforce have enduring health conditions and the company is seeking for ways to support more people in sustainable jobs by providing more flexibility in working arrangements. An internal survey found 82% of staff believe joining the company has had a positive impact on their lives.
This investment has been central to the latest phase of company’s expansion, as it has recently acquired a second site in Britannia House, Caerphilly Business Park. The contact centre now has 94 contact centre staff and managers, with room for further growth.
Connect Assist works with a number of high profile charities and public sector organisations, including The Royal British Legion, Network Rail and Barnardo’s, with turnover up to £3.6 million per year.
Patrick Nash, CEO of Connect Assist said:
“We are thrilled to have successfully secured a significant grant from the Wales Economic Growth Fund, allowing us to create more jobs in the area.
“As a social business, we are strongly committed to creating employment and up-skilling the local area. When we established Connect Assist, we deliberately targeted Nantgarw as our location because of the empathetic nature and skill-set in the community.
“This grant is a well timed financial push for us, in a period where we are experiencing steady growth, with new contract wins and an office expansion. We already have plans to build on our successful team and to continue to create new jobs in south Wales.
“As well as creating jobs, we are upgrading our telephony systems and infrastructure, providing more access to those requiring flexible working to manage their work and home-life balance. A number of our staff members have care responsibilities and enduring health conditions, so this grant will help us improve the technology that helps them work flexibly.”