Your dinner is just a call centre away

LONDON: This one is a first for call centres — residents of London are placing orders for Indian food with local Indian restaurants via call centres in India. Major British businesses outsourcing to India is no longer news, but now even small companies have sought the help of India’s large call centre industry to conduct their business.

If you are working late in London, chances are that when you call up the Indian takeaway down the road to place your order, the call will go to a call centre in India.

Cyrus Todiwala, who owns Cafe Spice Namaste in Soho, is bemused to find that orders being routed to his business through Lastminute.com are in fact being physically taken in New Delhi. “The crazy part is that we’re literally round the corner from our takeaway customers,” he says.

“Our fax machine can go non-stop with orders from India requesting London lunches, yet we’re so close we can drop most orders off by foot.”

Londoners are yet to decide whether placing orders for Indian food via India adds more spice and flavour to the food, but they all agree that the transcontinental route works.

Cafe Spice Namaste is currently celebrating its 10th birthday with offerings of special hot dishes to coincide with the National Chilli Week.