A CASH injection of £250,000 will help a North-East software company to recruit more staff.

SocialRel8, based in Middlesbrough, has received £100,000 from the Finance for Business North-East Proof of Concept Fund, managed by Northstar Ventures, with a further £150,000 coming from a number of private investors.

The company, based in Teesside University’s Victoria Building, is working across the UK with clients including call centre providers such as Atos working on behalf of National Savings & Investments.

This new funding will create additional jobs and help SocialRel8 to develop new products.

Founder Jaime Scott established SocialRel8 last May to enable call centre managers not just to monitor and evaluate the activities of their staff, but to support them with coaching, e-learning and customer feedback, via a product called EvaluAgent.

“Having worked for a number of different companies in the sector, we had a clear view of the management issues, and the challenges they faced in empowering their telephone agents to deliver the best possible customer experience,”

he said.

“Where we score over our competitors is that the Evalu- Agent package brings everything together in a single system, and we have worked hard to create software that gives managers and team members all the tools they need in one place.

“Yes, they can monitor individual calls, but it’s not just about how long it takes to process a call, so much as how it’s handled.

“As well as being able to listen to calls, they can have a survey at the end of a call that not only feeds information back to management but also helps to show the agent how their actions can affect the view of the company.

“Our software helps customers not just to manage a call centre, but also improves performance by better supporting frontline staff. Some of this is done through coaching, developing and training, all with the single aim in mind of empathising, listening and getting everything sorted to the satisfaction of the customer.”

Northstar investment manager Richard Exley said: “This is just the kind of fullyhosted software as a service product that the call centre sector is looking for, and with more than 20 years in the business it’s an area Jaime truly understands.

“It’s a high-pressure business environment with a high staff turnover rate, so products like this can succeed if they help to develop and retain good staff as well as improving efficiency and profitability.”

The roll call of businesses supported by Northstar over the past two years stretches from Tees Valley to the Borders.

Its investments are generally between £20,000 and £100,000, but it has the ability to complete follow-on investments above this level.

For more information, visit northstarventures.co.uk