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TLC appoints rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio as Director of Motivation

13 May 2007

TLC has appointed England Rugby Star and London Wasps Captain Lawrence Dallaglio MBE as its Director of Motivation.

Dallaglio, a prominent player in the England World Cup winning team of 2003 and a former England captain, has been tasked with advising TLC on motivational programmes for its employees. TLC employs over 1500 people at its headquarters in Richmond (Dallaglio’s home town), and at its sites in Portsmouth and Kent. When combined, its call centre staff alone make over a million calls a month on behalf of high profile clients across the financial services, automotive and entertainment sectors.

The continued desire to strive for excellence and a winning mentality are key cultural factors that TLC’s CEO, Neville Upton has always emphasised to his staff. Upton cites his people as ‘the life blood of the business’ and Dallaglio’s appointment illustrates the company’s commitment to investing in them.

The appointment of Dallaglio also marks a period of continued expansion for TLC which was recently ranked number one in Marketing magazine’s Contact Centre League Table for the largest financial growth during 2006. TLC enjoyed a 49% increase in turnover from 2005 to 2006, which saw turnover at the company reach £26 million.

Neville Upton, CEO, The Listening Company comments: “The contact centre industry suffers greatly from poor staff retention and low motivation levels. At The Listening Company we take this issue very seriously and are keen to lead the way in motivating our staff. That is why we have brought Lawrence Dallaglio on board. I cannot think of a better person to motivate our people. Lawrence has achieved the absolute best in his career and we can all learn a great deal from his experiences.”

Lawrence Dallaglio, Director of Motivation, The Listening Company comments: “Working with The Listening Company provides a great opportunity for me to put the skills and experiences I have gained in my rugby career to good use in other areas. I am equally passionate about getting more involved in business and am extremely impressed by what The Listening Company has achieved. The organisation has an impressive client portfolio, innovative technology, outstanding financial performance and great people that I know I will enjoy working with. I look forward to working closely with Neville and all his team and I endeavour to contribute significantly to the company’s future development.”

Lawrence Dallaglio, London Wasps Captain, England & British & Irish Lions

Lawrence Dallaglio was born in Shepherd’s Bush, London in 1972. He was educated at Ampleforth College and was first spotted by Wasps while playing for the college at the Rosslyn Park 7’s in 1989. He joined Wasps in 1990, becoming Captain in the ‘95-’96 season when he was also voted the RFU’s Player of the Year. Lawrence was a member of the triumphant England 7’s team, which won the World Cup at Murrayfield in 1993 and has represented his country at every level – Colts, Under 21, Student, ‘A’ team and 1st XV. He won his first cap for the full England team when coming on as a replacement against South Africa at Twickenham in 1995. He now has 65 caps and in October 1997 became England Captain for two years. Lawrence captained Wasps to the League Championship in the first year of professionalism, with the team eventually winning by a then record margin of six points. He was many people’s player of the tour whilst in South Africa with the successful 1997 British Lions and played in all three Tests. He made five appearances for England in the ’99 World Cup and was widely regarded as their best player. He has played for the Barbarians on four occasions and captained them against South Africa in December 2000, at the Millennium stadium. He was selected for the 2001 Lions’ tour to Australia, but injury prevented him playing a full part, and did not feature in the tests. In the 2002/2003 season, his club Wasps won the European Parker Pen Trophy along with the Zurich Championship. Lawrence played in both tests against New Zealand and Australia in June culminating a great season with two massive performances. He then went onto being the only player to play in every minute of every match during England’s successful campaign in Australia in becoming World Champions in November 2003. He was awarded the MBE in the New Years Honours in 2004, and was named as England Captain for the forthcoming RBS Six Nations tournament.

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