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Two hundred of the jobs will be filled by the end of March and the remainder by September.

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Ventura, an outsourcing company which works for household-name firms including Sky, British Gas, Volkswagen and 02, and several Government organisations, opened a new call centre at Leeds Valley Park business estate at Stourton.

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It is now expanding the work of the centre after winning a new contract.
Sales and marketing director Phil Telfer said: "It's a great start to 2009 for Ventura. We're delighted to be winning new business and creating new jobs.

"Ventura has always been a leading company in the customer management outsourcing market and we intend to strengthen our position throughout 2009."

He said the company was "in a strong position as firms increasingly look to operate with greater efficiency and agility in the current economic downturn."

Ventura already employs 400 people on the site, and a total of 2,200 in Leeds. Nationwide it employs 8,000 people.

Other clients include the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Government's Department of Work and Pensions.

Its services include customer management, debt management, document management, IT services management, business services and distribution.
Valley Park is at the junction of the M62 and the M1.