The call centre is situated in an old church

An old church in Rutherglen - an area of Glasgow with high unemployment - is the unusual base for the new international call centre.

After a �2.5m conversion, credit management and outsourcing company BCW Group Plc began operations from the building on Monday.

About 80 staff have been recruited and BCW expects more will be taken on.

The company said it was attracted to the area by its transport links, amenities and pool of talented workers.

Rutherglen was the perfect fit for us Paul Fraser BCW Group

Local people will work alongside colleagues from overseas, who will have the linguistic skills to deal with inquiries from abroad.

As well as the 80 staff already recruited, BCW said it intends to take on at least 200 more workers over the next three years.

The centre, which is based on three floors of the church conversion, was created with the help of a �1.6m grant from the Scottish Executive.

'Talent pool'

BCW's managing director, Paul Fraser, said: "We had a long list of essential criteria.. but the most important element of all was always the people, and Rutherglen was the perfect fit for us.

"There has been a lengthy spell without economic growth in this area of Glasgow which means there is a significant talent pool of tens of thousands of talented people just looking for careers.

"We believe they are the right calibre of people to provide us with the necessary business skills to get them back into work and we are delighted to give them the opportunity to embark on a new and exciting career."

The company, which was founded 21 years ago, has clients in more than 40 countries around the world.