LONDON: Capita plc has been awarded a contract by Irish Water for the transformation and operation of its customer contact centre services.

The contract was won following a public competitive tender process and is worth €10m a year, over five years.

Irish Water will then have the option to extend the contract for a further two years, worth an additional €17m over years six and seven.

Under the contract, Capita will transform customer management support services for Irish Water’s customers with a range of new software and digital capabilities.

Operating from Cork, the service will deliver digital expertise – including data and analytics capabilities – to provide improved customer and service insight. Combined with industry best practice, this will allow for customer problems to be identified and resolved more quickly, while also providing greater efficiency in service delivery areas such as payment collections.

Aimie Chapple, Executive Officer for Customer Management, said: “We are delighted to be working with Irish Water and to have the opportunity to build on our record of delivering highly efficient, technology-enabled customer support services, while at the same time providing greater value for money.

“This contract award is testament to the strength of Capita’s pan-European platform. Capita benefits from having a proven management team in Ireland, focused on delivery in the local market, complemented by the transformation and technical capabilities of the wider company.”

Yvonne Harris, Head of Customer Operations for Irish Water, said: “Irish Water is looking forward to engaging in this new partnership which will build on our existing service offering through enhanced digital offerings and other best-in-class technologies.

“Capita will work with Irish Water to transform our contact centre services for both domestic and non-domestic customers over the next five years. We are looking forward to working with the team over the coming months and years.”