GLASGOW call centre and software business Kura has said “a programme of significant investment” is responsible for its pre-tax profits falling from £1.5 million to £150,000 in the year to June 2017.
Accounts for the firm, which provides outsourced customer service functions to a range of businesses, show that its profits fell despite turnover increasing by three per cent to £31.4 million.
Chief executive Brian Bannatyne, who led a management buyout of the firm in 2015, said in accounts filed at Companies House that the business “invested heavily in physical infrastructure, opening new sites in Liverpool in north-west England and Forres in northern Scotland”.
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He said the latter move had secured “around 150 jobs for the Moray region”, while a contract win from “a leading car insurance group” has allowed the firm to take on an additional 120 staff in Glasgow.
He said the business also incurred higher costs after “reviewing the salaries of frontline advisers”.
The firm’s wage bill rose from £23.2m in the 2015/16 year to £24.2m last year, with pension and national insurance contributions taking its total staff costs to £26.1m, up from £24.9m.
After launching in England Kura was appointed to the Crown Commercial Service Framework, which will allow it to bid for a range of government contracts over the next four years.
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