SEVEN hundred workers at two call centres in north-west England face redundancy because greedy owners want to transfer their work, union Usdaw said yesterday.

Webhelp UK, which provides call centre services for Shop Direct, has announced that it intends to move its operations at Aintree and Bolton to South Africa and Cardiff.

“Our members are shocked and outraged by this decision,” said Usdaw divisional officer Mike Aylward.

“The staff have suffered years of unrest and uncertainty, despite giving great support and professionalism.

“They’ve seen their employer change from Littlewoods, to Shop Direct, to Serco and now Webhelp UK, only to be put under the threat of redundancy. These loyal employees have been badly let down and deserve much better than to see their jobs exported.”

He called for support from local politicians and said that talks would start next week.