About 20,000 housing tenants in East Anglia are being promised a better response to calls with the launch of a 24/7 contact centre based in Dereham.Flagship Housing Group owns and manages 20,000 homes across the region and receives about 1,000 calls a day - many of which are made out of normal office hours.

About 20,000 housing tenants in East Anglia are being promised a better response to calls with the launch of a 24/7 contact centre based in Dereham.

Flagship Housing Group owns and manages 20,000 homes across the region and receives about 1,000 calls a day - many of which are made out of normal office hours.

From today, all calls will be dealt with from a new contact centre called Flagship Response, which will be manned round-the-clock, 365 days a year and will be at Peddars Way Housing Association's office in Dereham.

Flagship Housing said it showed 'a commitment to get service right, first time'.

Joanne McGuigan, head of customer excellence at Flagship, said: 'Flagship Response will be a one-stop shop offering a first-time point of contact to deliver value to our customers. We believe that the interaction with our customers over the phone is as important as face-to-face contact and that our services should adapt to meet the changing demands of customers.

'With a strong focus on training, staff will be able to answer queries, any time of the day or night. And with staff available 24 hours a day, peak call times should be minimised, meaning that calls will be answered quickly.'

Nine jobs have been created in Dereham and among the new staff is Caroline Marsham, who was made redundant when the Woolworths store closed in the town at Christmas.

She said: 'I'm really enjoying my new role here. The hours suit my family life and every call is different so I get lots of variety.'