MAIDSTONE, England, November 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

STA International has increased its staffing levels by 23% to meet demand for its B2C collections and debtor tracing services. This growth exactly mirrors Credit Services Association research showing debt collection agencies collected £88M/ 23% more in Q2 2012 than the same period in 2011.

STA witnessed an 18% growth in debt volumes and a 37% growth in cash collected in Q2 and, in Q3, ending in October, they collected 25% more than in the same period of 2011. In addition to growing volumes of B2C debt, STA also traces absconded debtors where its placement has grown over 100% as its debt purchasing clients seek to maximise the value of their acquired book debt.

Operations director Jan Baker FICM explains: "Our higher education and online shopping clients expect timely collections from us and we have recruited the extra collectors in order to satisfy these expectations. With our in-house training department, power-dialler, extended work hours and ISO 9001 quality accreditation, these new resources will complement our existing collectors quickly and successfully."

Tracing manager Steve Bridger adds: "Record levels of debt buying and selling has seen our debt purchasing clients place thousands of traces at a time with us. In addition to our credit reference agency database searches, we focus full attention on desk research to validate address data. This results in a huge reduction in 'gone-away' mail, expedites debtor contact and optimises client return-on-investment."

Unless and until the economy improves, STA expects B2C debt to continue to grow. Managing Director Colin Thomas FICM concludes: "In such difficult economic times creditors are challenged to collect their money and maintain their margins. It's our job to assist them in this objective and we aim to achieve this without tarnishing their reputation. This means being fair, firm and compliant with debtors at all times."

NOTES:

STA International offer debt collection, receivables management and tracing services for B2B and B2C clients. A trading style of STA International Limited - they were established in 1994 and operate from Maidstone, Kent. The STA Group has owned offices in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City and Shanghai.