There is a high degree of interest in the UK in teleworking, dating back many years. This can be attributed, among other things, to an early interest by the privatised national telecoms company BT, to high levels of media attention, and to the development of the TCA, the Telework, Telecottage & Telecentre Association (formerly the Telecottage Association), which tends to act as a first point of contact for media and general public enquiries.
The TCA is the most developed telework association in Europe, currently with about 2,500 members. It is a not-for-profit body with directors elected by the membership, produces a bi-monthly magazine Teleworker and also recently published a comprehensive Teleworking Handbook. A survey by the TCA together with Small World Connections showed that showed that UK telecottages have the following characteristics:
| KITE Kinawley Integrated Teleworking Enterprise is a highly successful enterprise which sources 60% of its work from North America, and offers childcare facilities as well as training to its employees. The initiative was made possible by multiple European interventions, mainly Structural Funds. When the founders (Sheila and Michael McCaffrey) found that the conversion time for British and European business was too long because teleworking was a new concept, they decided to tackle the North American market, with assistance of the US State Department. A further expansion programme involving training of local people and new premises is currently in hand.37 |
Britain's network of telecottages and telecentres developed in the early 1990s, mainly in smaller towns and rural areas. There are currently about 150. Many are involved in IT training, some provide small business support services, but only a minority are used consistently for direct teleworking.
BT has run national marketing campaigns on the theme of teleworking on a number of occasions, most recently in early Summer 1997. BT for a time had a telework research team. It has also run two small-scale home-teleworking pilots. Other telecoms and IT companies, including Mercury (Cable & Wireless), Digital and IBM have been active in promoting the idea of teleworking.
| BT in Caithness The BT call centre in Caithness, Scotland treats all computer user related problems for BT staff, serving BT all over the UK and Europe.. It. initially employed 20 people, but has grown organically to over 200 people and has now been expanded to deal with BTNET & BTMOBILE external support services together with certain back office applications. |
| Scottish Widows This insurance company has reduced costs by over 45% and increased turnover by 300% and at the same closed down 25 branch offices by implementing a call centre and homeworking sales and customer contact programme. It was a step by step process which had not been planned to go so far but the business case at each step just led them further into implementation. The procedure has undoubtedly saved jobs and will probably lead to the creation of new jobs. |
Business organisations, most recently the Institute of Directors who produced 'a director's guide to teleworking' in 1996, have also engaged in the debate. The MSF trade union has produced Teleworking Guidelines38, and a number of other trade unions and the Trades Union Congress have issued reports on the subject.
In recent years, there has been a series of initiatives from British ministries (including the Department for Trade and Industry, Ministry of Transport and the former Department of Employment) which have led to telework studies. Many local authorities have also expressed an interest in telework, and at least 19 have some teleworking scheme in place, for example, pilot home-teleworking programmes or telecentre-based working.
In general, the liberalised telecoms regime in the UK (with two major companies, and several smaller players) has led to a competitive market. Deregulation began in 1984. There is strong growth in cellular telephony, and in Internet services. ISDN penetration has been slower than in some mainland European countries, however.
| Western Isles IT Project39 The Western Isles, on the north-west coast of Scotland, is one of the remote areas with a declining population. A series of projects were launched with the support of the Council in order to make the Isles more attractive for youngsters to stay or come back to. The IT project started in 199440 by assessing the current IT skills of those resident in the Western Isles, and resulted in a Skill Register Database, which is continuously expanded and maintained with currently more than 500 individual profiles. The skills registered are marketed towards organisations which need to expand their business, and has resulted in the creation of about 70 IT jobs today, with more to come. In combination with the concurrent projects Western Isles Opportunities Programme41 and the development of the Highlands and Islands University42, the region is succeeding in becoming more attractive for people to live and work in. |
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