Greenock Telegraph archives: Call centre workers were dealt jobs blow

THIS week’s walk down memory lane takes us back 15 years – when workers at TSC’s Greenock call centre had been dealt a fresh jobs blow.

T-Mobile supremos had announced a recruitment freeze — which meant hopes of some jobless TSC staff moving to T-Mobile have been dashed.

T-Mobile had told the Tele that ‘applications from TSC employees had been progressed’ in a bid to try to minimise the impact of its decision to switch contracts away from the firm — but it emerged the mobile giant had been forced to backtrack on those applications.

The bombshell news came as crunch talks took place between First Minister Alex Salmond and T-Mobile bosses over the fate of 160 axed TSC workers.

But they produced little consolation for the axed staff who were handed redundancy notices as a result of TMobile’s move to ship work from TSC to the Philippines.

Meanwhile, a pair of super songbirds were crowned joint winners of the Megastars grand final at Greenock Town Hall last night.

After a bit of confusion on stage, it was announced talented young singers Amy Coyle and Nicole Ross would both take the title this year.

The girls wowed hundreds of Inverclyde people with two amazing performances and made their family and friends very proud.

Amy got a standing ovation for her performance of Beyonce’s ‘Listen’ and Nicole moved everyone with her take on Celine Dion’s ‘Because You Loved Me’.

Elsewhere, football-mad youngsters had been handed a cash boost.

A charity organisation donated £200 to Gourock YAC, who encourage children to take up sport.

Club chairman Robert Love hoped to use the money to help refurbish their George Road premises or to buy more strips.

He said at the time: “It is great for us to receive a donation like this.

“We have six-year-olds coming along who have never kicked a ball before.”

In other news, an Inverclyde company made the world’s biggest haggis — weighing more than half a ton.

McKechnie Jess were waiting to hear if the haggis would be accepted by Guinness World Records.

Fifty employees worked on it when it was weighed and sent off by truck to Ayrshire for a Burns Festival.

The weight of 1,234 lbs — about 88 stones — smashed the previous record of 700lbs held by a company in New Zealand.

In sport, it looked like Morton could lose out on the services of goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert.

Cuthbert who had joined the club on a one-year deal just into the start of previous season, was in the middle of negotiations with the Cappielow club.

But the goalkeeper was also talking to at least one other club.

The goalkeeper had enjoyed a good season with Morton and was part of a defensive unit praised by manager Davie Irons.

He kept 14 clean sheets in competitive matches and was runner-up to skipper Stewart Greacen as the club’s Player of the Year.

Despite the uncertainty, Cuthbert eventually decided to sign a new two-year contract which kept him at Cappielow until 2011.