A British customer management company is to set up a new call centre in Cork in a project which is expected to eventually lead to the creation of 600 jobs. The company, which trades as the Merchants Group, is one of the leading tele-marketing and call centre consultants in Britain.

It will establish its first international call centre in Cork on site in the IDA Business and Technology Park. The facility will service the British and pan-European markets.

Mr Andrew Whiteman, a director of communications at the Merchants group, told The Irish Times that the company had chosen Cork because of the available pool of talented people. He said influencing factors had included the high standard of education, linguistic skills and very positive attitudes people in Cork had towards customer service.

Mr Whiteman admitted that the group had looked at other locations in northern Europe and Britain. He also said the company had considered Dublin.

However, he said Cork was a "very happening place" and it also meant that by not going to Dublin, where there was a high concentration of tele-marketing firms, the company would not be competing for staff.

The company will be seeking people who can speak European languages including French, German, Spanish and Italian. Recruitment will begin next month and a director of Irish operations has already been appointed.

The company expects to be fully operational next March. It will employ 200 people initially but this figure will rise to 600.

The Merchants Group was founded in 1981 and offers customer management services, including call and communications consulting as well as out-sourcing, co-sourcing and facilities management. Based in Milton Keynes, it services 43 countries and deals in 25 languages.

Earlier this year, Dimension Data Holdings, a publicly-quoted South African company acquired a 75 per cent stake in the Merchants Group. DDH has operations in software, services and communications in Africa, Australia and Europe.

Mr Whiteman said negotiations with IDA Ireland had taken place over six months. He paid tribute to the state agency, saying it offered a "very seamless and professional package". He said the Merchants Group business was growing at a rate of 40 per cent per annum and offered exceptional career opportunities to employees in various areas.

He had started in the company, answering the telephone, 17 years ago, and now he was a member of the board.