Virgin Media to create 620 jobs (From Daily Echo)

Virgin Media announces 620 jobs as it marks fifth birthday

10:51am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Hampshire Business By Matt Smith, Politics and business reporter

HAMPSHIRE based cable operator Virgin Media is to create 620 new jobs as it looks to meet demand for its broadband and television on-demand service.

The company is aiming to fill 500 call centre positions and will recruit a further 120 people it can train as engineers under its apprenticeship scheme.

Virgin Media, which employs 12,000 staff and this week celebrates its fifth birthday since it acquired and rebranded NTL, has been buoyed by the growth of its on-demand digital TV service, which recorded in excess of one billion views during 2011.

In results published today (Wed), Virgin's annual revenues were up 3 per cent to £4 billion, while operating income lifted 67.8 per cent to £540 million.

Chief executive Neil Berkett said: ''Our strategy of focusing on customers who want more from the digital world is paying off.''

Virgin said the majority of the new positions will be in Manchester and Swansea, with the apprenticeships being across the UK The expansion comes at a time of intense competition as rival firms battle to offer their customers faster broadband speeds.

Virgin had recently completed the roll-out of its network across the whole of Southampton connecting 80,000 homes to get its super-fast 100Mb broadband and the TiVo digital TV service.

Last month, Virgin Media announced four million of its broadband subscribers with current speeds of between 10Mb and 50Mb will gain access to it super-fast internet service.

The Government wants 90 per cent of British homes and businesses to have access to super-fast broadband by 2015.