Harrogate business informs staff of immediate closure with the loss of 450 jobs

It is understood chief executive Damian Brockway told employees that the company is in the process of appointing administrators for the business which had a head office at Cardale Court on Beckwith Head Road.

News of the closure came as a shock to employees as many took to social media this morning to seek new employment. One posted: “At 10pm this evening our CEO sent out an email informing us that all of our offices will be closing with immediate effect and not to turn up to work in the morning as the business will not be reopening moving forward.“I, as many others will be during this time, am now frantically looking for work. With huge overheads, a small child to support and a mortgage to pay, I am very concerned about the coming weeks. If anyone is looking for a hard working, driven and self motivated individual to join their team then please drop me a message… Good luck to all my Amvoc colleagues - I wish you all the very best.”

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Amvoc was founded in 2010 by one of the former owners of a Global Virgin Brand. Initially starting from a very small office in Dacre, in the Yorkshire Dales, the company began telemarketing in the legal sector.

Its website states how within 18 months it “had outgrown our first home and began adding new facilities and experienced staff… growing from just eight telesales staff to 450 full time telemarketing professionals working on a range of prestigious accounts.”

Its new Harrogate head office was opened in 2015, where 80 staff are employed.

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A new state of the art facility was opened in Leeds in 2018, accommodating 120 staff, which was then further extended in 2020 to take the Leeds operation to 250.

It had seemed that despite a troubled time during Covid, the company had survived, with the website heralding a new beginning in 2022. But that now seems to have been a false dawn.

The website states: “March 2020 to September 2021 – Awful period during Covid – Everything from lockdowns, to staff shortages and travel to and from work issues combined with many clients having to temporarily halt work – a really challenging and interesting period – but we not only survived – we prospered the moment things started picking up!!!

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“2022 we added three new major clients – in response we have opened a new Manchester office capable of taking up to 200 further staff, meaning we are very proud to announce Amvoc now employ 450 staff UK wide.”

The Harrogate Advertiser tried calling the Amvoc head office today but its calls were not answered.