- Warrington-born Bespoke International Group (Bespoke) CEO Mark Thomason lives in Cheshire and is one of the founding fathers of the international call centre industry in South Africa
- Thomason operates as a UK-based strategic consultant
- Bespoke International is a global outsourced customer service centre that works with UK and global businesses
Bespoke International has recorded growth to over 800 employees in its first two years of operations.
The company, a fully integrated global outsourced customer service centre, was founded in late 2019 by Warrington-born CEO Mark Thomason and his co-directors.
Bespoke boasts major clients in the financial, retail, telecoms, travel, utilities and insurance sectors.
Mark, who lives in Cheshire and operates as a strategic consultant in the UK, is one of the founders of the international call centre industry in South Africa.
Bespoke Managing Director Rob Muschamp and Finance Director Daniel Halfpenny run operations from the company’s Durban base. Services include voice calls, online chat and email communications.
Mark attributed Bespoke’s rapid growth to having attracted the ‘right clients’, recruiting to match company culture, investment in technology before and during Covid; and the unique offer of UK strategic consultancy that works seamlessly with operational activity in South Africa.
“We’re proud to be in the position we are in,” said Mark, 53, who previously grew a call centre business in the rainbow nation into a major global BPO firm that employed more than 10,000 people.
“But this is just the beginning for Bespoke International as our mission is to be the best outsourced customer service centre in the world. Earlier this year South Africa was voted number one outsourcing destination in the world for the first time.
“It didn’t come as a surprise as not only are providers in South Africa more competitive than Europe, America and other offshore geographies – which comes at a time when businesses across the globe are under huge pressure to drive profit by cutting costs – there’s also a close cultural affinity and high quality levels of service coupled with a great work ethic.”
Bespoke clients include Utilita, the UK’s largest pre-pay energy supplier, a global e-commerce company and one of the UK’s largest green energy providers.
Mark added: “What’s unique about Bespoke’s offer is that I’m based in the UK as a strategic consultant; which means potential clients meet me, and me only, face-to-face before onboarding with our operational team in South Africa. UK clients also get a monthly review meeting with the CEO in person, whereas with other offshore BPO companies you’d only ever deal with the sales or business development staff.
“And, while the fact that we’re offshore does mean there are significant cost savings to be had,” said Mark “it’s irrelevant without quality, which means we invest heavily in preparation, planning and the design of bespoke training paths to ensure our focus is always on continuous improvement. We strive to achieve, as a minimum, the same level of performance as our clients or partners in-house teams.”
South Africa was earlier this year voted the most favoured offshore BPO destination, according to the annual Ryan Strategic Advisory Front Office BPO Omnibus Survey.
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