Capita signs customer service contract with Irish Water
Capita has been awarded a contract by Irish Water for the transformation and operation of its customer contact centre services. The contract is worth up to €50 million over the next five years, after which Irish Water can extend the engagement for a further two years.
Irish Water is a water utility company in Ireland. The company was created by the Irish Government through the Water Services Act (2013), which formally created Irish Water to provide "safe, clean and affordable water and waste water services" to water users in Ireland.
As the organisation looks to improve its customer support, Irish Water has awarded professional services firm Capita a five-year contract. Worth €10 million per year, the work will see Capita work to transform the customer management support services, making a range of new software and digital capabilities available to Irish Water’s customers. The contract was won following a public competitive tender process, and leaves Irish Water with the option to extend the contract for a further two-year period, worth an additional €17 million.
Capita’s Executive Officer for Customer Management, Aimie Chapple, 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.”
As they look to ramp up Irish Water’s data and analytics capabilities, Capita’s staff will operate from Cork, delivering digital expertis, helping to provide improved customer and service insight. Along with providing greater efficiency in service delivery areas such as payment collections, it is hoped that with the industry best practices Capita brings that customer problems will be identified and resolved more quickly.
Yvonne Harris, Head of Customer Operations for Irish Water, commented, “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.”
Consulting firms offer a key source of digital expertise for utility entities looking to boost their service offerings. Earlier in 2020, in neighbouring England, the country’s market operator for the non-household water retail market, announced it has extended its contract with consultancy CGI for a further three years. The two companies have worked together for the past five years, and this new contract aims to help MOSL realise its ambitious business plans to support and improve the non-household water market.
