BPO major Sutherland Global Services announced the opening of its fourth centre in Philippines

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at Camarines Sur, on Wednesday. The company plans further expansions in Eastern Europe, as it gears up for

expansion in the country’s tier II cities.The facility in Camarines Sur went live with 400 employees and will provide a full range of back office and customer lifecycle management services to Sutherland’s Fortune 500 client base, Dilip Vellodi, chairman and chief executive officer, Sutherland told Financial Chronicle in a telephonic conversation from Philippines.

Sutherland has facilities in Manila, Clark and Davao City in Philippines. It also announced plans to set up its first global campus on the IT Corridor in Chennai. The company is investing close to Rs 200 crore. When fully operational, the campus will occupy over 10,000 people, Vellodi said. The first phase of construction will commence in the second half of this year.The company more than doubled its headcount in Philippines in 2007, he added. Sutherland hired about 3,000 professionals in the country and now employs over 5,600 people.

Commenting on further expansion plans, Vellodi said, Sutherland plans centres in Bulgaria in Eastern Europe on the overseas front, and in Chennai, Madurai, Thiruchirapalli and Tirunelveli in India. The Bulgaria centre is expected to be launched by the first week of June.

Sutherland is among the four companies that were allotted 62 acres at the Sholinganallur IT park near Chennai, on May 1. The company has also received allotments for 25 acres at the Madurai, Thiruchirapalli and Tirunelveli SEZs promoted by the Tamil Nadu state government.

The company has six facilities in Chennai and one each in Kochi and Mumbai. Within 18 months of its launch in Kochi, Sutherland has increased its headcount to over 1,500 against its original target of 750 employees, Vellodi said. Sutherland now has over 21,000 employees across its 22 delivery centers in India, the United States, Philippines, Canada, Eastern Europe and Mexico.