Serco's fledgling global business process outsourcing(BPO)business has landed a 10-year contract with insurance giant Aegon's UK business.
The deal will see Serco Global Services(SGS)transform Aegon's UK operation.
SGS is a result of the combination of the BPO services already in place at businesses recently acquired by Serco.
In June last year it acquired Indian services provider Intelenet for 385m pound.The acquisition increased Serco's Indian workforce from 4,000 to 40,000.
The month before that it acquired contact centre services provider The Listening Company,which provides phone,e-mail and internet services to the public and private sectors.
SGS employs more than 4,000 people across the UK.
The combined operation was officially launched in June,but has already been running for several months.It has previously won UK customers such as Shop Direct and Freeman Grattan.
David Poole,UK CEO at Serco Global Services,said the Aegon contract would be transformational but it does not intend to replace core IT systems."We will provide enhancements to processes and management,"he said.
Serco will operate from Aegon's offices in Lytham St Annes,which it plans to turn into a centre of excellence to deliver BPO services to other customers.About 330 Aegon staff transferred to Serco.
Mark Lewis,head of outsourcing at law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner,said Serco's recent acquisitions have been building up to deals like this."Serco has clearly invested heavily and now has a large global BPO and contact centre offering."
Lewis said the BPO sector is currently sluggish.
