Drew, a Briton and his mostly international executive team, acquired the business with 110 seats in March 2003.  They have since grown the operation to 1 000 seats with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg to service a virtually equal balance of domestic and foreign clients.  They have also acquired AbsolutValu, a BEE call centre specialising in Government contracts and Dutch language business; a staff training facility known as The Skills Centre; and a consultancy that services in-house contact centres.

With effect from today all these entities are structured as self-standing units housed in a new holding company, trading as The Evolution Group.  The restructured group will also accommodate new businesses.  Dialogue will now focus exclusively on customers operating in the areas of financial services, including banking and insurance, as well as on customer acquisition campaigns on behalf of an array of domestic and international clients.  A new element of the business will be Dialogue Shareholder Services that will liaise directly with shareholders on matters of administration and new business developments that impact on their shares.

A new unit, trading as Interaction, is to focus on the hospitality, travel and healthcare sectors.  It will also take on clients competing with those already serviced by Dialogue and will function as a competing brand to the Dialogue Group. 

The Skills Centre will continue to provide the training for entry-level call centre operators and agents on behalf of the industry but now becomes a separate profit centre.  Similarly, the consultancy servicing in-house contact centres will continue to consult to in-house call centres countrywide on enhancing operational efficiencies, service quality and overall performance, operating as an independent entity, but as an independent entity.

Drew becomes chairman of The Evolution Group, while Duncan Miller, formerly COO of the Dialogue Group becomes the MD.  Andrew Planting becomes sales director and Marc Spendlove, international marketing director.  David Drew has been appointed MD of the Dialogue Group.  He comes with extensive international experience in corporate finance, IT and global telecoms.

Speaking to a group of local and foreign dignitaries many of whom are in Cape Town to attend the Offshore Customer Management International Conference, Jason Drew said the restructuring had come at the cusp of a new era of growth for the South African contact centre industry, prompted by the deregulation of the telecom sector.  The amendments to the Telecommunications Act that end Telkom’s monopoly come into effect next February.

“The announcement of the liberalisation of the information communications technology sector has already elicited considerable interest in South Africa as an off-shore service provider among foreign companies.  The country is internationally acknowledged for its high service levels.  From next year it will also be able to compete effectively on price.  The new structure positions us for the continued growth we anticipate and is a very clear expression of our commitment to the South African industry.”

Drew said the formation of a further business unit was currently in development.  It was envisaged as a B2C joint venture with a major retail group, specialising in debt management.

The Foreshore office block, formerly Douglas Murray House, has been renamed Dialogue House, with the operation occupying virtually all of the eight-floor building. The Evolution Group also occupies other locations in Cape Town and Johannesburg.