Darby blasts Call Britannia demise

Call Britannia, the contact centre set up to help the long-term unemployed back into work, has gone bust, sparking a stinging rebuke from former director and founder Karen Darby.
The first centre opened in Croydon in 2009, amid plans to set up ten call centres – and create 10,000 jobs – in the most deprived areas of the UK, favouring the unemployed.
Call Britannia clients have included The Big Issue, Recyclebank, Kidney Research UK, HomeServe and Top Table.
But Darby (pictured) was ousted back in 2010 after a boardroom bust-up, with company entering administration and then re-emerging after a so-called pre-pack deal. It was taken over by two non-executive board members, The Bridges Social Entrepreneurs Fund and Big Issue Invest.
Talking exclusively to DecisionMarketing, Darby said: “I’d already been shafted by the venture capitalists. They also fired my sister and my son who was on work experience. I offered to buy it as a going concern but the VCs refused, instead they closed it down and dumped a load of debt, then restructured it, so I not only lost my job I also lost my equity stake.”
Last year Call Britannia launched its own apprenticeship scheme, aimed specifically at 18- to 24-year-olds, with the chance to take NVQ qualifications in a number of subjects including customer service, call centre management and training. The scheme was run in association with the charity Catch22, which provided funding for the project.
Darby set up her first company aged 23 – The Decisions Group – which she sold seven years later. Following a break to have a family, in 2002 she launched one of the first price comparison centres, Simply Switch.
The Daily Mail bought the company in £22m deal in 2006, but, within 18 months, it closed down the operation, sparking the idea for Call Britannia.
Darby added: “I’m saddened but not surprised. Call Britannia was my mission, my vision, my passion, the money men got what they deserved.”
Darby feels so strongly about the issue of business finance that she is setting up what she claims is the first equity-based crowd-funding platform for socially-driven businesses, CrowdMission.
Designed to challenge the conventional sources of business finance, such as banks, angel investors and venture capitalists, is will provide a platform that allows social entrepreneurs to seek investment direct from the public.

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