Ford Retail has opened its new £80,000 customer contact centre in Barnsley.

The centre will support 20 dealerships from Polar Ford, Heartlands Ford and Brunel Ford, enabling them to deliver greater levels of customer service through MoT bookings and reminders, and post customer visit satisfaction calls.

“We see our dealerships as local businesses serving local markets and the centre will provide them with customer contact support that will give our customers a better all-round experience,” says John Leathem, customer relations director at Ford Retail.

The facility will employ 30 people, all of whom will be chosen specifically for their customer service skills and techniques.

“Jobs will be advertised in the local press and candidates will be asked to attend group interviews. These will take place at the centres to see how individuals react to the environment and how they interact with each other” says Rachel Smith, spokeswoman for Ford Retail.

A similar centre is set to open in the south-east to support Ford Retail’s 23 Dagenham Motor’s dealerships.