TELECOMS giant O2 is once again sponsoring the Bolton and Bury Business Awards as it marks 10 years of business in Bury.

O2 is the borough’s largest private employer with 1,400 staff at its Dumers Lane centre, half of whom live in Bury or Bolton.

The site answers 100,000 weekly calls.

It first opened in 1999 and BT initially operated O2. However, the brand was formally launched in early 2002. Staff were trained at Bury College and the call centre went “live” in August.

Around 30 staff who were in the business on that day are still working there, including Saj Umarji, who is now head of the site.

In 2002, O2 had 12 million customers but it has more than 22 million today. It employs around 11,000 UK staff and has 450 shops, and is part of Telefonica, which has 295 million customers in 25 countries.

Mr Umarji, aged 39, said: “I started at Bury as a customer service adviser. I’d previously worked for BT and was part of the first Bury intake. I later became a team manager and I’ve been the centre manager for two years.

“When the Bury centre opened there was massive growth in the pay-as-you go market. However now about half of our customers have monthly payment contracts. In the beginning, customer calls were typically queries about voicemail and SMS services. Mobile phones were very simple compared to today’s smart phones. Customers were not so dependent on their phones whereas being without a mobile phone now isn’t acceptable.”

Regarding staff training, he said: “We look for staff who can deliver great service. We can teach the technical aspects. All new staff are given a 12-week training course and have weekly development time with managers. We have to keep up to date because the industry changes so fast.”

O2’s head office is in Slough and has other service centres at Runcorn, Leeds and Glasgow. It also handles Tesco mobile customers. It does not have its own branded phones, but serves others including iPhone.

Mr Umarji added: “People will use mobile phones for many more things including games. These are exciting times for telecoms and technology.”

O2 is sponsoring the Community Award again in the Business Awards. He said: “We think the awards are great. I’ve attended them a number of times. We support many great firms and want to highlight them through events like this. O2 also supports Bolton Lads and Girls Club, Radcliffe Boys and Girls Club, Bury Met arts centre and the Hurdles family support group. The firm recently had 150 volunteers taking calls for Sport Relief.

l The awards, organised by The Bolton News and Bury Times Group, take place on Thursday, June 21, at the De Vere Whites hotel at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton. There are 10 categories for businesses to enter including Family Business of the Year, Environmental Best Practice and SME of the Year. Entries are open online at thebolton news.co.uk/business_ awards