WHAT began nearly seven years ago as a small remote operation run by two Jamaican entrepreneurs has evolved into an expanding international outsourcing company, with VLBPO now serving clients across multiple global markets.

Founded in 2019 by Earl McDonald and Christopher Williams, the company, which started with just four employees, including its founders, initially offered virtual assistant services to small businesses in the United States through online freelancing platforms.

Today, the home-grown business process outsourcing (BPO) and back-office support company employs approximately 140 people across Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Philippines, also serving clients in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

For McDonald who serves as CEO, the company’s journey reflects years of persistence, long hours, and a commitment to proving that a Jamaican-owned outsourcing company can deliver at international standards.

“In the early stages, VLBPO didn’t have a brick-and-mortar facility. It was just Chris and I working remotely from our laptops, sometimes putting in 16-hour workdays to get the company off the ground,” he said while sharing details about the early days of start-up recently.

“Even though those early days were gruelling, it was exciting because we had a vision for developing a Jamaican-owned, high-performing business process outsourcing company,” he added.

Initially created to provide income opportunities for stay-at-home mothers in Jamaica, the company later expanded its focus towards building long-term careers and internationally competitive outsourcing services.

Securing its first corporate client, within just weeks of launching, VLBPO also moved to hire its first set of employees, one of whom remains with the company today. Despite limited resources, the founders built the business around four core principles: quality, accountability, respect and client success.

Those principles were quickly tested when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global business operations less than a year after the company launched.

For VLBPO, this presented an unexpected opportunity for expansion which saw the company in the first year of the pandemic, increasing its staff count from four employees to about 40 as international companies increasingly sought remote support solutions.

“While it was a difficult time globally, it also presented us with an opportunity to grow as companies started looking for solutions to outsource some of their roles,” the CEO noted.

The rapid expansion also forced the young company to quickly establish credibility while scaling operations without compromising service quality.

“Despite these challenges, failure was not an option, because we wanted to prove that a Jamaican-based BPO company could deliver results at the enterprise level while meeting international standards,” McDonald said.

To support its expansion, the company introduced comprehensive reporting systems and client feedback mechanisms to monitor employee performance and customer satisfaction in real time.

Over the last six years, this has seen it evolving beyond traditional contact centre services to provide administrative, back-office and customer support solutions across a range of specialised industries including healthcare, insurance, financial and legal services, technology, gaming and entertainment, retail, and real estate.

Its team members hired as specialists in these areas often function as health-care case managers and administrators, financial review, audit and data reconciliation experts and accounts receivable agents.

“What we’ve offered to new hires at VLBPO goes beyond entry-level contact centre responsibilities,” McDonald noted. “We are providing sustainable, long-term jobs in which they can build careers in high-growth industries. Throughout the years we’ve also built a strong leadership team across operations management, human resources and marketing to enhance our service offerings and position VLBPO for long-term growth.”

Management said the company’s lower-cost operating model does not come at the expense of service quality.

“By outsourcing your call centre needs to us, you’ll not only save on operational costs but also gain access to a superior level of service,” a statement on its website noted.

Following an expansion of its platforms in 2022, VLBPO shifted away from freelance platforms as it implemented a structured sales and client acquisition strategy aimed at attracting larger international clients.

That move in accelerating its international expansion led to the establishment of operations in the Dominican Republic and the Philippines. The expansion also gave the company multilingual capabilities in English, Spanish and Mandarin while supporting 24-hour service coverage across multiple time zones.

“Our workforce has also grown steadily since then, increasing by between 30 and 50 per cent annually between 2022 and 2025. In 2026 alone, VLBPO also nearly doubled its headcount as we onboarded new enterprise-level accounts and expanded existing contracts,” McDonald stated.

The company is currently recruiting agents to support a US-based healthcare and insurance client while scaling operations in financial services and gaming.

As businesses increasingly adopt artificial intelligence tools, VLBPO said it is combining human talent with AI-powered automation to improve efficiency and customer experience.

The company in recent years has also significantly expanded its investment in security, compliance and operational standards as it prepares for continued international growth.

Achieving compliance with globally recognised standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 Type 2 certifications in the last two years, these designations have helped the outsourcing company to strengthen its ability in managing sensitive information while servicing enterprise-level clients.

Additionally in 2024, the entity was also shortlisted for the United Kingdom Trade Partnership (UKTP) and International Trade Centre digital services mission. Through that programme, VLBPO was able to participate in international conferences, networking sessions as well as business-to-business engagements with prospective clients and partners across Europe. It was also able to secure its first client in that jurisdiction.

“We have laid the groundwork to take advantage of the growth opportunities that the UKTP and other trade missions will afford us,” McDonald said.

“VLBPO has created the systems and achieved the global compliance certifications and standards to position us to secure the requisite enterprise-level accounts that we are now looking for,” he added.

Looking ahead, the CEO said the company within the next 2 years, plans to expand its workforce to approximately 500 employees across Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Philippines.

“As we continue to acquire new businesses and expand our servicing industries…we’re also looking at expanding further into the European Union,” McDonald said of the outlook.

Earl McDonald, co-founder and CEO of VLBPO

Over the last six years, VLBPO has evolved beyond traditional contact centre services to provide administrative, back-office and customer support solutions across a range of specialised industries

VLBPO’S team members are hired as specialists in certain areas often functioning as health-care case managers and administrators, financial review, audit and data reconciliation experts and accounts receivable agents.

VLBPO employs approximately 140 people across Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Philippines, servicing clients in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Members of the VLBPO team providing administrative support

Team VLBPO at this year’s staging of the Sagicor Sigma Run