A NEW call centre offering 600 jobs will be coming to the Island, the Isle of Wight Council confirmed this evening (Thursday).
The council's cabinet welcomed the development at tonight's meeting, where confidential details of the deal with a UK-based customer service and online retail support provider were discussed. 
Members agreed unanimously to invest up to £2.1 million in the venture, subject to final negotiations.
The investment will come from the council’s capital funds, not those used for the delivery of day-to-day council services, and will enable the set-up of the new contact centre, which supports a number of well-known brands. 
Although the name of the company and the location of the call centre has not been released yet, the council said it was working with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Isle of Wight College to get the centre up and running by September.
Council leader Cllr Dave Stewart said: “The Cabinet was very pleased to endorse this significant investment in promoting the future prosperity of our local economy.
"In supporting this innovative venture, the council is taking an active role in creating 600 new, quality jobs for Islanders, in line with our regeneration strategy.
"We said we'd bring new jobs and prosperity to the Island, and already I am pleased to say we are delivering on this commitment.”