Kura (company)

History

Kura was formulated (as Response) in 1991 and is headquartered in Glasgow. The company were part of Murray International Holdings Ltd and owned by Sir David Murray until late 2014. Founded under Murray after the publication of the Taylor Report into safety at football grounds. One of the outcomes of the report required tickets to be sold prior to games. This spurred on many clubs to open call centres to deal with ticket sales and stadium seating arrangements. Murray, the chairman of Rangers at the time, set up the company to deal with these enquiries.

Under Murray they acquired a contact centre company called Thus for £4m in 2004 and a specialist business process software company called Carnegie Information Systems in 2005. Trading under the RHL (Response Handling Ltd) name until in February 2007 it was shortened to Response. In June 2008 they also acquired a local software company known as Inisoft, meaning the company offer in-house software capability to potential clients.

In early 2014, trade reports stated that Response and its associated companies were for sale as Murray's parent company was under financial pressure. There had been no real interest from the contact centre community with regards to purchasing the company.

In late August 2014, the company was sold. A management buyout headed by Managing Director Brian Bannatyne purchased the company from Murray International Holdings Ltd.

In October 2015, the company having been sold changed its name to Kura CS Limited, Kura being the name of the takeover vehicle used by Bannatyne to stage the buyout of Response and a play on the word cura, a Latin word meaning helpful or careful.

Currently operating two Glasgow city centre sites and a site in Forres. The company were also located in Edmiston House at Ibrox Stadium but moved out of the premises and it was sold back to Rangers Another centre was opened in Clydebank in 2004 and closed in 2009. The company (as Response) used to sponsor the Glasgow Warriors rugby team.

Customers

Kura provide services to some of the UK's biggest companies. Current clients include Student Loans Company, Scottish Power, Esure, Chubb Security, Hiscox Insurance, Bank of America, Orange (UK), Airdrie Savings Bank and Dundee College. The Automobile Association, BSkyB, Buzz (low budget airline operator owned by KLM), Rangers, United States Embassy, Aegon, Hewlett-Packard, Royal Bank of Scotland and Kwik Fit were previous clients.

Accreditations

Kura have gained the following accreditations:

Kura are members of the National Outsourcing Association. Inisoft are a technology partner of telecom equipment provider, Avaya.

Awards

In December 2006 the company won the NOA Support Services to the Financial Services Industry Award for their Relatis software system. They were also awarded the NOA Public Sector Outsourcing Project of the Year in 2007 for their work on the American Embassy campaign. The Student Loans Company in July 2008 entered them for Best Outsourcing Partnership for Europe, the Middle East and African regions and subsequently won it. They were named as a finalist at the National Business Awards of 2011. The Hiscox insurance campaign claimed two awards in 2013; they were the 'CCA Excellence Awards Contact Centre Team of the Year' and the 'NOA Awards Financial Services Outsourcing Project of the Year'. In November 2014, Managing Director Brian Bannatyne won the National HR Managing Director of the Year award.

An annual in-house award ceremony to commemorate the work of their staff called The Glitzies was previously held. Awards like Advisor of the Year and Team of the Year were available to staff. The event no longer takes place under Kura.

Claims

In 2007, the BBC were investigating credit card fraud within the UK and were making a programme called "The billion pound bank robbery". They sent an undercover reporter into the company and gathered customers' information including bank details. The BBC approached Response with their findings and they subsequently took the BBC to court in an effort to stop the programme being broadcast. A judge ruled in favour of the BBC and the show was broadcast.

In 2008, a Muslim man won £20,000, after accusing Response of mistreating Irish and minority staff. He claimed staff frequently mocked Irish callers, and persistently made racist comments towards callers from the Student Loans Company. He was granted £15,000 for injury to his feelings, a further £3,750 because the company did not follow the statutory grievance procedure, and an additional £3,718 in interest. The Student Loans Company also had to reimburse two students after their student loans were never received. Another staff member was responsible for this and subsequently left the company.