Tanguy de Laubier - Managing Director of the BlueLink Group
Specialised in the handling of outsourced customer relations, Rogers’ and BlueLink’s newly established subsidiary is called Blue Connect. Tanguy de Laubier, Managing Director of the BlueLink Group, talks to us about this new collaborative venture and how it came about.
What is BlueLink?
Founded in 1992, BlueLink specialises in the effective management of outsourced customer relations. Around the world, our Group handles customer relations for major airlines, leisure, tourism and luxury goods companies and banks and insurance companies around the clock, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our four centres with multi-lingual expertise – Paris, Prague, Sydney and now Mauritius –, as well as six partner service centres, have more than 1,000 collaborators around the world. It means that we can provide an international service to all continents and offer a unique geographically close service to all our clients. The BlueLink Group received the Label français de responsabilité sociale in 2008, renewed for three years in 2010. It recognises what we have done since we were set up in terms of continuously improving our social responsibility activities.
How is BlueLink connected to Blue Connect?
Blue Connect is a joint BlueLink and Rogers Aviation subsidiary. BlueLink is a French group and our head quarters and original centre is based at Ivry-sur-Seine, near Paris. For BlueLink’s major clients – mainly French companies with international interests and headquartered in Paris – the geographical location of this centre is a major attraction. However, although much in demand, the geographical proximity and the expertise developed at Ivry are no longer enough in themselves to win over new clients. We now cover Europe from Paris and Prague, the Asia-Pacific region from Sydney, and Africa and the Indian Ocean region from Mauritius. Our objective is to offer a value-added multi-lingual service at a competitive price and meet a growing need for innovation and flexibility, especially at critical times.
What activities are carried on in Mauritius and with what resources?
Currently, the main activity is the handling of baggage claims for airlines. We have eight front-office customer advisers to locate baggage and follow it through to its delivery to the passenger, and seven back-office staff to handle reimbursements and outgoing calls. Seven others work on airline companies’ loyalty programmes. Additionally, seventeen customer advisers, specialised in handling business travel –such as ticketing, hotel bookings, car hire and travel insurance –, work in the Blue Connect centre for Blue Sky, Rogers Aviation’s travel agency.
What led you to choose this geographic location and your partnership with Rogers?
BlueLink decided to locate in Mauritius for various reasons. The first is that Mauritians have shown that they have a natural aptitude for customer service, a tradition built up and now internationally recognised in the tourism and hotel sector. As well as having natural warmth, Mauritians are bilingual in French and English, which is essential in our business, as a result of the country’s history. The second reason is that Mauritius has advanced, modern and appropriate technical infrastructures. We are also aware that the Mauritian government actively supports the customer-relations sector, where the issue is the development of strongly added-value activities, so that the country develops a real pool of expertise in the Africa/Indian Ocean area. These days, 9% of customer relations’ matters represent what we refer to as “complex” activities, which keep on growing with the advent of companies like Blue Connect. Yet again, the country is politically stable and has a lively economy. The business hub for the Indian Ocean region, the country has good links with South Africa, the West, the Emirates and India. The small time difference with much of mainland Europe (+2 hours in summer and +3 in winter) means we can connect our Mauritian site with our European centres and gives us enhanced capacity and flexibility. Additionally, BlueLink and Rogers share several values such as respect, social responsibility and dynamism.
