Can I thank Jenny Rathbone for the points that she raises and for her question? I think no matter how competitive a market is, employees shouldn’t be treated with anything other than upmost respect and loyalty by their employers. Of course, shoppers play an important role in influencing corporate behaviour and I’m sure that many shoppers will be somewhat disappointed by the way that those employees have been treated by a company that they may have been loyal to as customers.

I think the issue of automation is really, really significant given that we know that advances in technology are accelerating and we need to be in a position to adapt to what will soon become a new reality and also take advantage of new technologies. That is why I just mentioned that I have commissioned a piece of work that will look at existing studies that have been carried out, particularly by the Wales Contact Centre Forum, but that goes beyond that in looking at how technology and automation could change the sector and what needs to be done to ensure that the right skills are developed within the sector to adapt to that change.