Mathew Kemp: the British touch to BPO in Mauritius

He describes himself as a young, pleasant and dynamic man. In 2010, he founded Servecalls, a British call centre located in Pointe-aux-Sables. He tells us more about his vision for the BPO sector in Mauritius.

Our first impression: he has got a strong British humour. Mathew Kemp, aged 40 – but, he says, he feels more like a 30 years old man – is one of those who have a pleasant personality. He isat the head of Servecalls, an English call centre which opened in 2010.

Before founding this enterprise, he had an amazing career. “I grew up in the United Kingdom at the time when Thatcher was Prime Minister. So my exam years were riddled with teacher strikes such that there was very little in the way of schooling when it mattered,” he remembers. At the age of 17, Mathew Kemp had to choose between joining the army (as a musician) in Hong Kong and study at the Royal Academy of Music in London. His choice fell on the army. “I wanted to start out my professional life as a military musician, exactly as a trombonist. I later tried to make it in London as a freelance musician. However, there was only so long you can survive on breadcrumbs. So I needed to find a real job!” hesays.

Eight years later, Mathew Kemp decided to leave behind his passion for music and got a job at NTL – nowadays Virgin Media – as a Project Manager. During his years of service in the cable and broadcasting department, he went on to lead NTL UK’s technical delivery (in 1999) and NTL Ireland’s broadband internet in 2001. In the early 2007, he joined Setanta Sports subscription business. “I led the customer operations and subscriber-related activities across Britain, helping grow the company from 120,000 subscribers to 1.4 million customers in  18 months,” hesays.

His job at Setanta led the British guy to Mauritius. “When the idea for pulling together all of Setanta’s operations into one central place was about to become reality, I looked at a number of options for how this could be constructed, including looking at existing locations,” Mathew Kemp says. So he looked for locations which had the right cost base, the right market and with a little expertise. “Mauritius seemed the obvious fit and so far appears to have been a superb choice both professionally and personally,”he adds.

Once in Mauritius, hefounded Servecalls in 2010. “The vision of the company is to be simply the best at what it does and to have some fun along the way,”he says. For Mathew Kemp, colleagues that enjoy being together will allow the company to grow with the right customers. “The success also takes passion and the ability to constantly question what you do and how you do it. That also implies to be honest enough to confront the mistakes,”he adds.

In Mauritius, call centres usually do not have a good image. But Mathew Kemp has got another point of view: “Let’s not be under any illusions. No one lies awake at night as a 10 years old person dreaming about working in a call centre; it’s a tough relentless job. However, if you are going to choose call centres as a career path, then opt for one that strives to develop people and tries to make it as enjoyable as possible!”“Servecalls, he pursues, can be compared to a young UK call centre where the ideas are fresh and where the strive for perfection lives through it everyday”.

Otherwise, many of the more established contact centers in the UK are still regimented and scripted. In otherwords, the call durations are much prescribed and there is no personality on the call. This is one aspect that Servecalls is trying to avoid. The call centre wants to bringa more positive image of the UK contact centres in Mauritius, Mathew Kemp explains. “At Servecalls, we learn the script and then throw it in a corner as itis the conversations that matter. In holding a normal and pleasant conversation, you find out about the customers, you make the product relevant to them and they leave the call on a positive note. For our clients, these simple conversations are what get the results,” hesays.

So, to continue on the path of success, Servecalls stays“simple, reliable and personable.” The company also aims at helping to improve the BPO sector in Mauritius. “We will create more jobs and opportunities, and at some point,we will probablybecome more active in the sector as a whole,” Mathew Kemp says.

Apartfromhisrole as a director of business, Mathew Kemp is a married man and the happy father of two children. Atwork, “I am a little boring”, hesays, but “I try my best to find time for my family.”