Latest Teesside headlines straight to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Staff say they can "cut the atmosphere with a knife" at one of Teesside's largest call centres, amid claims under-performing workers have been paid off or threatened with the sack.

Workers at Virgin Media's Stockton retentions centre say staff who are struggling to hit their targets have been left "isolated" by the company, given little support and told "if they spoke about it with anyone they would get sacked.”

It comes after one employee said co-workers were 'tapped on the shoulder and escorted out'.

He said: "They had to hand their pass in. It just came from nowhere - it was like 'who's the next person?'"

Virgin Media is one of Teesside's largest employers with around 450 workers based at the Preston Farm centre.

Virgin Media says it "regularly reviews" its customer operations teams and is still recruiting on Teesside, but has refused to comment on any "confidential conversations" that have taken place with staff out of respect for the individuals' privacy.

The company has refuted claims staff have been left unsupported, saying it "invests heavily" in helping staff "deliver to a high standard".

But one staff member, a retentions agent who was not directly affected by the changes, said those who were 'tapped on the shoulder' were people who had scored a performance level two out of a possible five for the past three years.

He claimed they had been given the "option of taking a pay-off depending on tenure with the company" and then made to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

He said: "Alternatively, they've been told they may keep their job but told they need to start hitting targets straightaway or they face getting sacked with no pay off.

"The people that have been let go, some of them have been here for years and are very experienced so it's quite shocking."

Another worker, who also did not want to give his name but said he was not directly affected, said: "It's horrible, what they're doing in there.

"They used to have the Richard Branson ethos of looking after people.

"You use to go in and enjoy your day - now you can cut the atmosphere with a knife."

He also said around 15 staff have chosen to come back and improve their performance.

A Virgin Media spokesman defended the company's stance and said: “We want to provide the best service to our customers and invest heavily to help our people deliver to a high standard.

"If changes need to be made to our teams we will always do everything we can to support our people while remaining absolutely committed to giving our customers the service they expect.

"We respect the privacy of our people so will not comment on any confidential conversations that may have taken place.”