UK Debt Purchaser/Collector Donates Call Center Ops to Charity

UK Debt purchaser and collector, The Lowell Group, announced today that it has donated its 300-person call center in Leeds, England to charity for the evening of March 16th and staff have volunteered to man the phones to collect pledges for Comic Relief’s biennial Red Nose Day.

James Cornell, Lowell Group’s chief executive officer, said, “The idea to donate our call center to Comic Relief came from our staff. We hold a number of charitable fundraising events throughout the year, which are always well-supported, so we were more than happy to put ourselves forward. As one of the UK’s leading debt purchasing companies we are used to collecting money from people but it will be a different experience having people ring us to donate it!”

Staff are still planning their own fundraising activities but Lowell has already pledged to match the money they raise. And as an added incentive James Cornell and his chief operating officer Andrew Bartle have promised to carry out a series of forfeits in exchange for pledges.

“If the money is right we are willing to do almost anything that is legal and decent with the exception of shaving our heads. I know we are both follically challenged already but I’m getting married shortly and my future wife would not be happy,” quipped Cornell.

Red Nose Day is a UK-wide fundraising event organized by Comic Relief every two years.  In 2005 £22 million ($43.2 million) in donations was collected on the night of Red Nose Day and 21,000 volunteers took part from 170 call center companies.