UP to 100 people in Barrow have been told their jobs are at risk after a firm lost a major contract.

Staff at Agilisys in Barrow, based at Craven House, were told this week that from March next year, their jobs were likely to be cut after the firm lost its contract to take calls for the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.

One employee told the Evening Mail that rumours had been brewing for some time but bosses only confirmed the job losses when confronted by staff.

Agilisys Contact Services established the Barrow centre in 2005 to provide the Consumer Direct North West Service in partnership with Cumbria County Council to 21 Local Authorities in the North West.

Agilisys and Cumbria County Council’s Trading Standards team were selected to provide the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Consumer Direct Northwest advice centre for the North West region.

Agilisys, a business services firm headquartered in London which employs a total of just short of 2,000 people in the UK, confirmed staff had been told of the contract loss. The company declined to say how many jobs were at risk.

A spokesperson from Agilisys said: “From March 2017, Agilisys will no longer be delivering the Citizens Advice consumer service as the contract will have come to a natural end.

"The exact impact on our employees is not yet known but as soon as we are aware we will inform them directly. We are providing support to our employees affected by the changes.”