BMS Interactive announces closure
There were reports coming in that local Australian call centre outsourcer BMS interactive had unexpectedly closed its doors on 14 March 2017.
BMS started in 2000 and at its peak employed close to 500 staff in Richmond, Victoria.
In September 2015 they rebranded from BMS Telecorp to BMS Interactive and in that same year were awarded the winners of BPO Outsourcer of the Year by the Auscontact Association so things were on the rise.
Attempts to contact BMS Interactive representatives on several occasions via several people have gone unanswered however various reports on Social Media suggest that staff were told to leave the premises suddenly and without notice.
With the recent closures of Sydney based outsourcer Customers 1to1 closing its operations on 23rd December 2016 and CallActive, a Melbourne based outsourcer that at its peak employed 1,300 staff closing on 30 November 2015 there was certainly cause for concern as conditions became increasingly difficult for local outsourcers.
CEO Andrew Brydon confirms the news
In a post on LinkedIn dated 21 March 2017 CEO Andrew Brydon shared the following:
“Last week I made the very difficult decision to place BMS Interactive (BMS) into voluntary liquidation after almost 18 years since founding the company”.
“During this time the BMS team achieved great success as well as overcoming numerous challenges.
Whilst adapting and embracing many of the changes over the years, ultimately there have been just too many in only a short space of time, (DNCR, off-shoring, in-sourcing, various online channels, and the removal of technology barriers through SaaS and cloud-based diallers), have unfortunately led BMS to this point.
I would like to acknowledge all of the BMS staff, our clients and supply partners that have been part of the BMS family, without your contribution we would not have been able to achieve what we did.
I also strongly recommend the BMS team to any prospective employers and if there are any opportunities in the market for BMS staff please InMail me via LinkedIn.
Finally thank you to all those who have left messages of support, your kind words are very much appreciated during this period, please stay in touch”.
The changing outsourcing landscape in Australia
Since 2017 there has been plenty of further changes in the Australian Outsourcing industry with a number of high-profile mergers and acquisitions including Probe’s acquisition of Stellar.
We’ve some new entrants and additional investment into some existing outsourcers as they continue to make a play for the lucrative government contracts and private enterprises seeking experts to handle their customer contact.
COVID has also had an impact with many offshore call centres unable to operate forcing an influx of local (Australian) based call centre jobs that has been a boon for the local outsourcing industry.
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