A BOLTON call centre could close next year — with the potential loss of 253 jobs.

Proposals are being put forward that include the closure of the call centre within the Shop Direct Office in Thynne Street by Spring next year.

Staff were left in tears today, with several apparently walking out in anger as the scale of the proposed job cuts were explained.

The running of the firm’s call centre — which employs 253 people — was taken over by outsourcing group WebHelp from Serco on August 3 and since then a “strategic review” has been taking place to look at how the customer service side of Shop Direct should move forward with a view towards making it more “digitally focussed.”

That review is now complete and today the proposal was outlined to staff, trade unions and other interested parties this morning.

One call centre worker, who did not want to be named said: "It was horrible, the scenes this morning were awful with people crying their eyes out in the corridors.

"About 12 people just walked out and the bosses were talling them to come back, some of these staff members have been working here for 20 years.

"A lot of us have felt that this has been on the cards for some time, but that doesn't make it easier, we have got families to feed."

If the move goes ahead, 271 Shop Direct employees would remain in Bolton, working in other areas of the business.

The proposals also include the possible phased closure of another Webhelp-run Shop Direct call centre in Aintree, Liverpool by Spring 2017 — with the loss of a further 439 jobs.

It is also proposed that there will be a Shop Direct centre of excellence established in Cardiff, with the remainder of operations being handled in South Africa.

The move, which Webhelp bosses insist is at an early stage, is being proposed because the firm expects there to be a significant reduction in call volumes over the next decade as consumers increasingly choose to use social media and web chat for their needs.

This is backed up by data from Shop Direct, which has seen an increase of more than 700 per cent in social media contact since 2012 as well as a rise of more than 120 per cent in web chat sales.

While voice calls still account for almost 80 per cent of all contact, this is expected to decrease in the coming years.

David Turner, chief executive officer of Webhelp UK, said: “Consumer behaviour is continuously changing and as a digital retailer on a journey to becoming world-class, Shop Direct needs to be confident it can continue to anticipate the ways in which customers will want to communicate with its brands in the future.

“Shop Direct is still currently receiving a huge percentage of customer contact via traditional methods, such as telephone, however, it is clear that customers want to move onto digital channels, and the pace of change is increasing.

“Shop Direct has given this challenge to Webhelp and using our expertise in data-drive, digital transformation, we have been able to offer a proposal, which, if accepted, will ensure Shop Direct’s customers could choose from a raft of digital contact options, including Whatsapp, virtual advisors and video messaging and will see more than 60 per cent of contact becoming digital in three years.”

Shop Direct chief executive officer, Alex Baldock, said: “We set Webhelp the challenge of developing a customer service capability that would serve our customers’ needs over the next decade.

“They have responded to that challenge by reviewing the estate they inherited from Serco and recommending the proposals that have been outlined to the trade union today.

“Change can be difficult but it is necessary and we are confident that the proposals outlined by Webhelp will ensure we can continue to develop the fantastic digital service our customers are telling us they expect from Shop Direct.”

The Thynne Street site used to house the Great Universal Stores building, before the billionaire Barclay brothers bought the Manchester-based firm's home shopping division in 2004.

This followed the purchase of Littlewoods by the Barclay’s, which they then merged with Shop Direct.

The new business, which included several other catalogue companies, initially traded as Littlewoods Shop Direct, before rebranding as Shop Direct Group in 2009.