SELKIRK-BASED HGS have confirmed a three-year partnership with The Student Loans Company.

The move comes after the Indian outsourcer announced that 200 new jobs would be created at their Selkirk site earlier this year.

This is part of a larger UK-wide expansion by the firm, which sees more than 500 jobs in total being split between their Selkirk and Preston sites.

The new vacancies are for front and back office roles, including customer service, sales, retention, technical helpdesk and provisioning.

HGS’s Selkirk centre is currently home to a range of customer support campaigns for clients including Quadrant Subscription Services, Lloyds Banking and Astra Zeneca.

The deal with the Student Loans Company means the firm will provide contact centre support for students, starting from December 2015.

Matthew Vallance, CEO for HGS Europe commented: “The creation of these 500 new roles across our sites in Preston and Selkirk will provide significant career opportunities in the local areas, and allow us to achieve our growth ambitions.

"We are delighted to be immediately augmenting our existing teams of talented professionals.”

Christine Nunn, Head of Customer Services at The Student Loans Company said: "We are looking forward to working with HGS to help us deliver the highest level of customer service to our customers, whatever their needs and preferences."