Outsourcing is 'not the right option' for Nationwide

The building society will refurbish centres in Swindon and Northampton, and open a new site in Sheffield in the summer which will create up to 180 new jobs.

The announcement came as new research showed that workers in UK call centres answered more calls per hour than their foreign-based counterpoints, and resolved more of these calls first time.

Philip Williamson, Nationwide chief executive, said: "Call centres abroad may suit some of our competitors, but they are not the right option for Nationwide."

Salary concerns

He added: "We are aware of some commentators' concerns that some countries may not have the same level of data protection for consumers in the UK."

The building society employs almost 800 in Swindon and Northampton, and also has a centre in Swansea.

The new research, by ContactBabel, also said that UK call centre employees tended to stay with their company for over three years, compared with 11 months for workers in Indian call centres.

It also revealed that workers in the Indian centres were being paid less than 12% of a typical salary of a UK call centre worker.

Steve Morrell, author of the report, said: "Indian agents are very quick to pick up the phone, but it takes them longer to complete each call, and more than a third of customers call back later to get a satisfactory resolution to their inquiry."