Nev’s call centres fined for nuisance cold calling

The reality TV series The Call Centre has become an unlikely hit since launching on our screens at the start of June.

But two companies involved in the show have been issued fines by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): Nationwide Energy Services has received a penalty of £125,000, while We Claim You Gain has been hit with a £100,000 fine.

Both are part of Save Britain Money Ltd, based in Swansea. It is the third largest call centre in Wales and is headed up by chief executive Nev Wilshire, who has become the star of the fly-on-the-wall series for his likeness to David Brent, the character from sitcom The Office played by Ricky Gervais.

While the activities of Nev and his call centre employees have provided entertainment for many, they hide a bigger problem within the cold-calling industry. Simon Entwisle, ICO

Penalties were issued after the companies were found to be behind 2,700 complaints to the telephone preference service (TPS) or reports to the ICO using its online survey, between May 2011 and December 2012.

The penalties include the first issued against a company linked to nuisance calls relating to payment protection insurance (PPI), said the ICO.

Neither company carried out adequate checks to see whether the people they were calling had registered with the TPS, which is a legal requirement under rules governing electronic marketing, said the ICO.

However a spokesman for Save Britain Money Ltd said that the penalty would be appealed and that neither company accepted that a fine was “the appropriate course of action”.

Public ‘fed up’

ICO Director of Operations Simon Entwisle said: “The public have told us that they are fed up with the constant bombardment of nuisance calls. While the activities of Nev and his call centre employees have provided entertainment for many, they hide a bigger problem within the cold-calling industry.

“People have the legal right not to receive marketing calls and these companies have paid the price for failing to respect people’s wishes.”

Penalties totalling more than £750,000 have now been issued to companies that have breached these regulations, while a further 10 investigations are going on.

The ICO has set up an online reporting tool which people can use to send details of any unwanted marketing texts and calls. It has received more than 200,000 responses since the survey was set up in March last year.

Mr Entwisle added: “We’d like to see it made easier for us to issue penalties to companies who are breaking the rules. Similarly, everyone involved seems to agree that the rules on how consumers give their consent to receive calls needs to be clearer.”