BTC’s new flagship customer service centre and store opened yesterday.

Located in the landmark Hamilton Exchange building, the new shop features a bill payment centre, a retail area, as well as repair facilities.

Bernell Gibson, BTC customer services manager, said: “It’s quite an improvement. It’s nice and bright. It’s clean, but not sterile. It’s not a doctor’s office.

“Feedback has been very good. Customers like the feel of it because it’s clean and comfortable.”

The new store, on the corner of Cedar Avenue and Victoria Street, is housed in a former emergency office space, set up for customers whose own offices were temporarily out of commission.

Around three months’ intensive work saw the space transformed into the new store, which shares a building with the main telephone exchange.

Andy Hudson, BTC chief operating officer, said: “This is a milestone in the long and proud history of BTC. While the Hamilton Exchange is the central hub for all our network operations, having the retail store here as well marks its return to the company’s spiritual home as, when the building was redeveloped in 1956, it housed the commercial offices,

“This flagship store reflects the ongoing investment across the company in terms of infrastructure, hardware, software and the people that make this company what it is.”

The open-plan store provides a bigger customer sales and service area, with booths for customers to discuss their needs with BTC staff and flat screen TVs featuring services and special offers.

It also offers a self-service area where customers can pay their bills online, as well as a bill payment drop-box to cut down on waiting time and an external drop box for out-of-hours non-cash payments.

The new accessories area features a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi extender range and the company expects to offer new products in the coming months.

A mural along one wall blends historical photographs of the building and old trucks with modern views and vehicles.

Mr Gibson said: “We’re now able to provide customers with a greater retail experience in addition to processing bill payments, plus in the coming weeks and months we will be expanding our range of products and services to offer even more choice.”

He added: “We are more than 100 years old, but we are looking at extending our network with fibre, with the help of great investment from Digicel, who are now our owners. We’re looking at doing some great things.”