Optima business results on the up after opening of new center

Outsourcing services provider Optima registered a 35 percent increase to RON 9.7 million in turnover in 2015 over the previous year, following the opening of a new business center in Iasi, according to a press release by the company.

“Last year was a good year for us, we managed to overcome the initial estimates of about RON 9 million in turnover. This development is due to an increased operational performance and portfolio diversification and customer service. Currently most of the Optima customers come from telecom sectors, banks and utilities, but recently we have started projects for the area of e-commerce,” said Daniel Mereuta, Optima CEO.

The company’s number of employees hiked by 40 percent due to the newly open center in Iasi, where there are already 30 people employed, Optima aiming to reach the 100 threshold. The new center is also expected to further drive an increase in turnover of 20 to 25 percent this year.

Though the age median in the outsourcing services is currently predominantly in the range of 25 to 28, the company representative expects the trend to change.

“The flexibility of youth, their learning ability and especially good knowledge of foreign languages has made them very desirable for our industry. On the other hand, there is an age category we could take increasingly more into account, namely the one that is in the area of 45-55 years. They are very serious persons, who probably cannot practice in their core domain, but could easily do a retraining. Europe’s and Romania’s populations are experiencing a sharp aging trend and on the other side the business services industry continues to grow and, therefore, an increase in the average age is expected. Persons over 45 years, in turn, want stability and could contribute in the future to reduce staff turnover,” explained Daniel Mereuta.

Optima was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Bucharest. The company currently employs 230 and is part of the Next Capital Group, active in factoring, purchasing and debt collection, with an annual funding of EUR 50 million. The group has a majority Romanian stake, with British investment fund North Bridge Capital Partners holding a minority share.

Natalia Martian