Commenting on the announcement, Jim Costello, CEO said "We are delighted at the news of being shortlisted with companies such as Musgrave and FMC.  It is a terrific acknowledgement of the great work our management and staff provide to our clients and to SouthWesterns ongoing commitment to employment in the region."

The winner in each category as well as the overall winner will be announced at the Chamber Annual Dinner on Friday, 3rd February at City Hall, Cork.

SouthWestern is headquartered in Clonakilty, has signed a ‘six-figure’ contract for the supply and upgrading of telephony and other communications equipment with the giant Cable&Wireless company which has clients in 153 countries.

SouthWestern process more than four million documents, 111,000 pay slips and more than 40,000 claims annually.

It also deals with three million customers’ calls a year, making it one of the biggest suppliers of services to companies nationwide.

Among others, it handles queries for companies in the banking, telecoms, utility and government sectors.

The company, which prides itself on its ‘can-do’ attitude, employs 600 between its Cork and Polish facility at Lodz.

Cable&Wireless said the deal involved the provision of a fully managed multimedia contact centre, capable of catering for 300 agents, plus an upgraded telephony platform capable of supporting 100,000 users simultaneously.

Jim Costello, chief executive of SouthWestern, said the deployment of the new system would enable them to provide and deliver the best possible service to clients in the most cost effective way.

The new system would be used to provide clients with inbound telephone support, outbound telephone campaigns, proactive and reactive email requests and SMS alerts.

It would also be used for communications across social media, increasing being used by customer to interact with service providers and brands.

Sean Mahon, managing director for enterprise, Cable&Wireless Worldwide, said they were delighted to continue their seven year-long association with SouthWestern.

The award of the contract reinforced their reputation to provide innovative solutions for large scale users of telecoms in Ireland. 

Winners will be announced at the Marketing Society Annual Christmas lunch on Friday, December 09^th in the Shelbourne Hotel.

• IICM Trade Credit Team of the Year - SouthWestern's Eircom Collection Team
• IICM Credit Executive of the Year - Stephen Hayes on the SouthWestern INM Team
•  CCMA Credit Management Team of the Year - Bord Gais in association with SouthWestern

The qualification process alone for the shortlist is a great achievement as this category is much coveted and therefore very competitive.  The winners will be announced during the annual awards ceremony on Saturday 19th November, hosted by the CCMA.

“Gillian is the winner of Team Leader of the Year for me, regardless of the outcome on the night. She demonstrates all the qualities and values of what it takes to deliver results, to motivate her team, is agile and committed in everything she does. Gillian has all the strengths of a true team leader."  Ursula Deasy, Head of CRM, SouthWestern

Best of luck Gillian!!

Jim Costello, CEO, SouthWestern, was invited by Professor Ciaran Murphy to be guest speaker to the UCC Business Information Systems graduation class of 2011.

UCC, BIS Graduation Breakfast speech 

This is the celebration of your graduation and the start of a very exciting career ahead for all of you. I am CEO of SouthWestern Business Process Services and I want to tell you three short stories from my career, as to how the link of Business and Technology has played a major role in my career and continues to do so to this day:

Story 1. I have been involved in the IT industry since the mid 1980’s and worked for Unisys Corporation for 17 years in the UK, Holland, France and the United States. I returned to Ireland in 2003. I am an accountant and graduate with Masters in Science.  In the course of my time in Unisys I came across many massive trends. One we got totally wrong was the PC market. Unisys was a $10bn global leader in mainframe and Financial services and Government systems. We decided to enter the PC market in 1987, at the start of that market. We invested in the right technology for sure. Look at the success of Dell and HP. However we didn’t understand the business model. Moore’s law meant that the PC doubled in capacity every 6 months. Over the next 5 years Unisys built a $ 1bn stock of outdated PCs, simply because new models came to market before we sold the old stock. It nearly broke the company. We literally had to bail out of the market to avoid bankruptcy. We never thought you could build such small items to Order. That was Michael Dell’s idea. Same technology, different business model and he cleaned up.

Story 2. We are coming up to the Anniversary of September 11th. At that time I worked in North America and we had the IT services contract for the New York Port of Authority. We took care of their Data centres and ran also their back-up data centre. Data centre 1 was in Tower 1. The backup systems were in Tower 2…..
Obviously the only concern for anyone was the woeful and tragic loss of life. Everyone pulled together. Nobody talked about the technology issues. In business, as in life, people are always the most important factor. I will never forget that.
Since then Business Continuity Plans or Back-up plans for all major companies have been changed such that back up systems are far away.

The third story is about a Bull station company in West Cork, that has developed one of the largest wind farm inventories in the country and is now the largest Irish owned technology based Business Process Outsourcing companies. The BPO idea arose from, as a first step, the linking of Bull station to technology. (The EU required food source, and therefore Animal databases). SWS acquired the technology expertise (From UCC as it happens). Secondly it required the vision of people, like your own Professor Ciaran Murphy, Mr. Kieran Calnan (former CEO of SWS) and former Minister Joe Walsh, to build a Technology Park in Clonakilty, with broadband links (fibre) that gave it same capability as metropolitan Cork or Dublin and thirdly we applied the basic principles of Business Process management through technology to sell these services to Irish banks, Public Sector and commercial companies.

We have expanded into the UK market and built operations in Poland. From 34 people in 2004, today we employ 700 people and growing fast. We deliver business processes more efficiently than anyone else through the clever application of technology and business know-how.

I hope all of you go on to the career you wish to follow. For me it has taken me abroad and back to Ireland. I met my wife on the way and we have had a child in each of France, UK and America. They are all in school here in Cork now, with good thick Cork accents.

Whether you travel, or if you stay in Ireland, enjoy it, like I am, and grab the great opportunity that BIS has given to you. We would love to see some of you working in SouthWestern some day. Enjoy your day and congratulations.

Joining him on the panel was Sue Gregory, National Director, Inspection Delivery, Ofsted, Colin Cram, Former Chief Executive, North West Centre of Excellence and Director, Marc1, Paul Robb, Board Member, National Outsourcing Association and Tony Donaldson, Director of Economics, Office of Fair Trading.

SouthWestern to invest €3.5m in R& D with Enterprise Ireland Support

Thursday 9th June 2011 The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mr. Richard Bruton T.D. today announced that Cork company, SouthWestern, is to create 150 new jobs over the next three years. The company also announced a €3.5M investment in research and development with support from government through Enterprise Ireland.

Minister Bruton made the announcement when he visited the firm’s headquarters in Clonakilty, Co. Cork this morning.  SouthWestern is a market leader in Business Process Outsourcing, servicing leading public and private sector clients in the Irish, UK and European markets.  The firm currently employs 450 people in Ireland and another 150 internationally.

Minister Bruton said:
“Job creation is my number one priority, and if we are to turn the corner and get the employment growth we so badly need, we will have to focus on three things: reducing business costs, improving access to finance and encouraging innovation across the economy. Government does not create jobs, but if job-creating businesses like SouthWestern are to succeed and grow across the country, the government has a huge role to play. We must not only provide supports but must also provide leadership in the economy as a substantial actor in its own right.

“Today’s announcement that SouthWestern is creating 150 jobs and investing heavily in R&D in a regional location shows what can be achieved when government and innovative companies work together. I am determined to build on this and ensure that government keeps its end of the bargain so that good companies can replicate today’s announcement across the country in the coming years”.

Mr Costello also outlined that SouthWestern wished to play a major role in public sector reform and in delivering better services at lower costs to the public.
“We want to work closely with government agencies to help develop the most effective and cost efficient public services available.  We see today as a launching pad for our future expansion and the expansion of the sector as a whole.   It is our ambition to develop world-class services that ensure our growth and enhance the quality and international reputation of Ireland’s business process outsourcing sector.”

Frank Ryan, CEO of Enterprise Ireland added:
“Business Process Outsourcing is a sector that has strong potential to make a significant contribution to the Irish economy over the coming years.  Innovation and continuous investment in R&D is fundamental to realising that potential. With this ambitious R&D programme, it is clear that SouthWestern is committed to taking its place at the forefront of this important industry.  Enterprise Ireland looks forward to continuing to work with SouthWestern on their growth and internationalisation.”

The award, presented to Wiktor Doktor of SouthWestern by Ms Beata Stelmach, the Vice-Minister in the Dept. of  Foreign Affairs (Patrons) and Mr. Marek Goliszewski, President of Business Centre Club (hosts) acknowledges the work of Polish based businesses that support international organisations with operations in Poland.