beCogent was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 call centre

Call centre

A call centre or call center is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing,...

 company that provided outsourced telesales, customer relations and helpdesk services to a variety of companies. The company was founded in 1999 (originally as 'Cogent Communications') by Ron Peerenboom and Dermot Jenkinson. The company employed over 3000 across the main headquarter in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire

Airdrie, North Lanarkshire

Airdrie is a town within North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles east of Glasgow city centre. Airdrie forms part of a conurbation with its neighbour Coatbridge, in the former district known as the Monklands. As of 2006,...

, and other call centres located in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Erskine

Erskine

Erskine is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the lowest crossing to the north bank of the river at Erskine Bridge connecting the town to Old Kilpatrick...

 and Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...

. The company was a member of the UK's National Outsourcing Association. In 2008, the company was named UK Employer of the Year and both Scotland's Employer of the Year and Business of The Year at the Orange National Business Awards

Orange National Business Awards

The National Business Awards UK are a set of awards which recognize businesses in the United Kingdom for their success. Businesses are considered through a nomination process for the 4 top categories and a self entry process for an additional 12 more specific categories in areas such as...

.

The company was acquired by Paris based Teleperformance

Teleperformance

Teleperformance is a French customer service, technical support, call center and debt collection company with headquarters in Paris, France.The company operates in around 50 countries, including UK, Brazil, Chile, India, Philippines, China , Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Norway, Italy, USA, Costa...

in June 2011.