There are call centres and there is The Call Centre. Save Britain Money is that call centre, the one BBC3 made a documentary series about. A cult hit, it attracted 5m viewers (400,000 were expected) and made stars of several employees, including the firm's founder and chief executive Neville “Nev” Wilshire, a charismatic boss who cites Napoleon and John Wayne as his leadership models. “It used to take me half an hour to go round Swansea market on Saturday morning. After the show it took up to three hours,” says Wilshire of the time-consuming attention his newfound celebrity status has brought. But while Wilshire enjoys doing the documentary — filming for a second series is almost in the bag — his company is more important. Besides, he explains, being on TV “was detrimental to business”, with his public profile attracting unwanted attention, and fines, from the Information Commissioner's Office, causing him to lose a contract. Dismiss at your peril Save Britain Money as fit only for fly-on-the-wall documentary japes, however: this is a thriving business employing 488 people with revenues of £51m and profits of over £11.5m in 2013. The company provides energy-efficiency surveys and installations, renewable energy advice, pensions, mortgage reviews and fuel switching. Almost everyone is based at its bright and airy headquarters on a retail park just outside Swansea. Founded in 2005 with a workforce of six, it has employed 1,000-plus in its pomp. And ex-heating salesman Wilshire nurtures his employees, most of whom are in their twenties. In an area where the local paper has reported that almost 25% of people use food banks, Save Britain Money helps fill the employment gap left when the coal mines and factories closed. Tea, coffee and sweets are never far away thanks to Hayley Pearce's trolley. Pearce was not always the tea lady, Wilshire explains: “She was on the phones and was distraught because she wasn't selling.”Instead of sacking her, he created her a new role, and seeing her “going round, happy as a flea doing what she does” is one of his proudest achievements, he says. Telephone agents at Save Britain Money have the arduous job of cold-calling people to inform them of the company's services, earning a basic salary of £11,323 for 33½-hour weeks. But while their work can be stressful, the ebullient culture keeps everyone smiling. Assistant team leader Chris Jones explains: “Cold-calling is not the easiest job, but once you start to get into it, your personality begins to show.” Jones, who won the company's first employee of the month title, says the hard work is worth it because Save Britain Money is a nice place to be. “It feels like a big family, people are on your side.” Staff say colleagues go out of their way to help, giving the top score among mid-size firms for this measure, 86% positive. “What drives us most is the buzz of the call centre,” says Jones, who once came in dressed as an Oscar statue for a themed social event. His boss, Wilshire, spills the beans: “He was in Budgy Smugglers, sprayed gold!” www.savebritainmoney.co.uk
