A new distribution centre at Severnside is giving workers in north Bristol another set of vacancies to consider. Northway Logistics opened the site on Monday, 2 June, with about 1,200 jobs associated with the operation. Recruitment has drawn attention from people already working in customer service as well as those looking for work.
Among them are advisers at Brightmere Energy's Filton contact centre. Employees spoken to by the Courier said the location was close enough to make a change feel practical. None said that a different job would automatically be easier. Several were comparing the journey, working pattern and physical demands alongside the work itself.
One adviser, who lives in north Bristol and asked not to be identified, said the attraction was finishing a shift without an unresolved customer conversation still in mind. 'I know warehouse work is work,' the employee said. 'I am not imagining sitting down all day. I am thinking about a different sort of tiredness.'
Another Brightmere employee said a possible move was less attractive once travel and household arrangements were considered. 'I can do the route I have now without a car. If the shift times do not fit, the headline about new jobs does not change much for me.' The employee said they intended to stay while looking at the vacancy details.
A Northway spokesperson said recruitment information set out the requirements of the roles and that candidates should consider the pattern and duties before applying. The company declined to comment on where particular applicants currently worked. It did not provide a count of recruits from Brightmere or other contact centres.
Brightmere said it recruited in a competitive local employment market and offered opportunities in customer service, specialist work and development. A spokesperson said the company valued experienced advisers and continued to recruit at Filton. Asked whether the Severnside opening had changed its recruitment plans, the company did not announce any alteration.
The energy supplier is also preparing new customer-service technology. Staff interviewed for this report mentioned that programme, but did not all connect it with a possible move. One said they wanted to see whether the new tools would reduce administration before deciding what to do. Another was mainly interested in finding a shorter journey.
No public figures establish how many Filton employees, if any, will join Northway. Nor does an application necessarily mean somebody has decided to leave. The people discussing the site described different calculations, including caring arrangements, predictable shifts and whether previous experience would help them obtain a role.
For the new centre, the opening begins the work of staffing an operation. For nearby employers, its vacancies are now part of the local conversation. A Filton adviser who had saved a job advert on their phone said they had yet to apply: 'At the moment I am reading what the shift actually says. That comes before anything else.'