Nigel Cotgrove, CWU national official, said: “Santander's decision to stop using overseas contact centres and instead invest in direct employment in their existing call centres is a welcome breath of fresh air.
“At a time of great economic uncertainty, when other banks are still shedding UK jobs, this move has created 500 jobs and will boost service standards for customers.
“This is excellent news for jobs and reinforces the status of the Bootle, Leicester and Glasgow operations as long term strategic sites for the bank.”
Andy Kerr, CWU deputy general secretary, said: “We warmly welcome Santander’s commitment to UK jobs and its decision to bring work back from India. Off-shoring and outsourcing work can be very destabilising for the workforce and often leads to variable service standards.
“We hope that other employers – especially companies where we have members including BT, Vodafone and Everything Everywhere - will accept that UK contact centres are good for Britain and good for customers and follow Santander’s example of investing in directly employed staff in stable workplaces.”
The CWU represents staff in Santander UK and other Santander subsidiary companies in the UK.