The BPO market in the UK

Transcription

1 CBI MARKET SURVEY The BPO market in the UK Publication date: August 2008 Report summary This CBI market survey discusses, among other things, the following issues for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market in the UK: The UK is the largest (offshore) BPO market in the EU. The principal drivers for BPO offshoring are cost reduction and the shortage of qualified labour in the UK. Increased activity of multinational Indian BPO providers on the UK market results in more competition for other companies from developing countries (DCs). The public sector is a very active BPO market in the UK, followed by the financial services sector. Small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in the UK are outsourcing their non-core processes, but are still hesitant when it comes to offshoring. The price trend is going down in the UK as a result of increased competition. Multi Vendor Outsourcing and offshoring specific tasks to niche players is gaining importance. To work with UK customers, presence in the market is very important. Partnership with a UK firm is recommended and attending conferences is a good way to make contact. India is by far the largest offshore destination for UK companies. Nearshore destinations such as Eastern Europe are on the rise. This survey provides exporters of BPO with sector-specific market information related to gaining access to the UK. By focusing on a specific country, this survey provides additional information, complementary to the more general information and data provided in the CBI market survey The Business Process Outsourcing market in the EU, which covers the EU market in general. That survey also contains an overview and explanation of the selected services dealt with, some general remarks on the statistics used, as well as information on other available documents for this sector. It can be downloaded from 1 Market description: Demand and supply of onshore BPO This section will describe the demand for BPO in the UK. In Section 2, a more detailed view will be taken on the specific market for offshore and nearshore BPO in the UK. Demand According to the Ovum Holway research agency, the BPO market in the UK market still continues to grow and amounted to 6.5 billion in It is by far the largest BPO market in the EU. Although the IT outsourcing market is still much larger in the UK, the pace at which the BPO market in the UK grows is much faster. For the period until 2011, Ovum expects higher growth rates (10% annually) in the general BPO market in the UK, with some markets in the public and private sectors outperforming these figures. For 2010, Ovum expects the market in the UK to have grown to 11.5 billion. Local government and the life and pensions industry are the two most active large-deal sectors in the British BPO market. A small but fast growing market is the healthcare sector. The private sector is the most important sector for BPO in the UK and especially the financial services sector performs well. Also in the public sector the adoption of BPO is widespread. The most important segments in this sector are the local and central government. The adoption of BPO by the public sector is not so common in other European countries. In the Netherlands, for example, local governments are very hesitant to outsource processes. In the years to come Page 1 of 10

2 the private sector will remain the largest sector in the UK, (see Table 1.1), although growth in the public sector is almost as high. Table 1.1 Future growth of the BPO market in the UK Market sector CAGR*% Central government 13.8% Local government 11.3% Other public sector 9.5% Total public sector 11.8% Financial services 11.9% Communications and utilities 10.9% Other private sector 14.1% (manufacturing, retail) Total BPO growth 12.1% *Compound Annual Growth Rate Source: Ovum (2005) Demand drivers and fears Cost saving is one of the principal drivers and will become even more evident because of the global credit crunch, according to Mr. Bullas of the European Centre for Offshore Development (Ecode). However, the other factors that are gaining importance are quality improvement and a better customer service focus. Reasons why companies tend to avoid outsourcing are mainly based on fear to lose control over the process. Additional reasons can be found in the organisation of small companies. For outsourcing to be successful there has to be a high level sponsor in the company, for example someone at a senior level, who has to take ownership of the strategy and can the lead the way. Furthermore, in some companies the stakeholders or trade unions might be against outsourcing processes. Another factor that plays a role is the increasing availability of low-cost Business Process Management (BPM) software in the UK, which makes BPO less necessary. Supply The large BPO market in the UK is home to several important players. According to Mr. Bullas, globalisation is setting in, but the BPO market is growing to such an extent that there will always be room for smaller and/or niche players. The leading players in the BPO market, ranked by market share in the UK, are: Capita market share of 21%. Vertex % share. EDS % share. Accenture % share. The UK market is characterised by the increasing presence of all the top Indian BPO suppliers. These companies are expanding their Western operations in order to become true multinational corporations. For example, Tata Consultancy Services (TSC) has more than 3,000 employees in the UK and Infosys recruited UK graduates as the company expanded its European operations. Infosys has 60,000 employees worldwide with 1,500 based in the UK. Another important supplier in the UK is Steria ( This France based company acquired British BPO supplier Xansa in October 2007, making Steria a top 10 player in the British BPO market. In June 2008, Capita acquired IBS OpenSystems ( These market developments are good examples of increasing globalisation. Page 2 of 10

3 Trends BPO grows stronger than IT outsourcing and outsourcing in general. The UK market for BPO is beginning to consolidate due to multinational acquisitions and mergers. Cost saving is still the most important demand driver; however, improvement of quality and customer service are gaining importance. Increased use of BPM software as alternative for outsourcing. Increasing presence of major Indian BPO suppliers in the UK market. Opportunities and threats + Unlike other EU countries, the UK has a large offshoring/nearshoring potential in the public sector. + Offshoring is still a good option, as price remains the most important factor in outsourcing. ± While BPO is still a growth sector, suppliers of BPO services need to differentiate themselves from the rest of the market and offer good quality services in niche markets. Increased activity of Indian BPO providers in the UK market results in more competition for other DC companies. Increasing availability of BPM software diminishes the need for outsourcing. Useful sources Intellect - European Centre for Offshore Development National Outsourcing Association (NOA) 2 Offshore and nearshore BPO Where Section 1 was focused on the BPO market in the UK in general, this section will zoom in specifically on the market for offshore and nearshore BPO in the UK, as this is the market for SMEs from DC. The market The UK is the largest market for offshore BPO in Europe. Over 70% of all European offshore expenditure is generated by the UK and Ireland. The private sector is the most active sector in offshoring, followed by the financial sector. Industry experts state that there is a growing trend in the UK transport sector and the healthcare industry to use BPO administration processes and back office services. According to analyst firm NelsonHall, the total BPO market in the UK valued 24.8 billion in 2007 and is expected to reach 36.4 billion in 2011, showing an average growth rate of 10% per year. Mr. Bullas confirms that the BPO offshore market is increasing fast. His expectation is that the current credit crunch will increase the rate of acceleration even more over the next twelve months. Peter Ryan of Datamonitor ( predicts a bright future for the offshore BPO market in the UK as the country has been a free trading country for a long time and companies think proactively when it concerns the continuity of their businesses. With globalisation setting in, Peter Ryan states that SMEs from DCs only have a chance in the UK market if they offer a small, profitable niche service. Which companies offshore Large and multinational companies are leading the way when it comes to offshoring. These companies mainly use captive offshoring for BPO. Especially in the upper end of the market increased activity can be noticed. The financial services sector in particular is performing very well. SMEs in the UK still do not seem to consider offshoring. They are willing to outsource their non-core processes, but only to companies in the UK. Ecode, NOA and a few other UK associations have already started cooperating to try and promote the use of offshoring within SMEs in the UK. Page 3 of 10

4 Mr. Bullas states that SME adoption of BPO offshoring in the UK is still very slow. SMEs that use BPO prefer to stay in the UK and choose areas such as South Wales or Cornwall as outsourcing destination. The price for services is lower there and it is much easier to get staff. SMEs only see the large companies who perform captive offshoring and still think that jobs are moving outside of the UK because of offshoring, while in fact it usually creates extra jobs. SMEs that are currently involved in outsourcing/offshoring are companies that have made outsourcing their core-activity. Because of the large potential it is likely that offshore companies will be interested in entering the UK SME market. They will have to develop spearhead SME marketing campaigns to educate small businesses or make use of agencies that can arrange the business for them. Reasons and barriers to offshore Reducing costs and shortage of qualified labour are the two principal drivers to offshore for UK companies, according to Mr. Bullas. Companies have more problems than ever before finding qualified personnel. Research by the Chartered Insurance Institute's (CII) revealed a worsening skills shortage in the financial services sector. In 2008, three quarters of the employers interviewed reported shortages of technical skills, an increase of 5% compared to Analyst Firm Gartner notices that financial services companies are struggling with a shortage of IT managers and business analysts skilled in business process management (BPM). The skills shortage has been made worse because few universities in the UK teach BPM. Barriers for companies to use BPO are mainly based on fear, uncertainty and doubt. However as the years go by these factors become less important. As mentioned above, SMEs have the misconception that BPO is not for them. Additional barriers are the fact that they do not have the time and money to spend on offshoring their services and that they fear losing control over the process. Large companies and multinationals on the other hand are not eager to spend time and money on educating smaller sized companies in DCs. According to Mr. Bullas, another barrier can be data protection. This is an issue of much importance in Europe in general, but even more significant in the UK. Furthermore, the protection of intellectual property rights plays a major role for some sectors. Companies are very much aware of the risks involved when sharing information with foreign partners. Peter Ryan confirms that this is a serious issue in the UK. The stringent laws on data protection affect the extent to which foreign companies can do business with UK clients. Needs of SME buyers The Federation of Small Businesses states that 97% of the companies in the UK employ 20 people or less. These potential buyers want to feel that the vendors they deal with genuinely understand their everyday problems and that they have ways to make their lives easier and their companies more competitive. Research by Silicon.com shows that BPO providers, both on- and offshore, have not earned the trust of the SMEs yet. What is offshored BPO is now winning widespread adoption, particularly in the UK where medium-sized and large firms are offloading 'non-core' operations such as human resources, finance and accounting and procurement functions, as well as industry-specific work such as mortgage processing and pensions administration. In addition, more and more higher value-added jobs are being offshored, such as complex financial analysis, technology R&D, and innovation. These services can be outsourced to either specialised service providers or company-owned operations in lowcost countries. The offshoring potential for different BPO services from the UK will be discussed below. Call / contact centres The call / contact centres market in the UK is a very large sector. Offshoring to India and the Philippines is already common in the UK, especially for smaller projects (up to a few hundred seats in a call centre). For niche products and when multiple languages are involved, offshoring to other destinations are considered. Here, nearshore destinations (Eastern Europe) Page 4 of 10

5 and countries such as South Africa become interesting. For the larger deals, the size of the projects will be a problem for SMEs in DCs. Despite the flourishing market, there are also some barriers to be aware of. Due to poor experiences in low-cost countries, some UK companies are shifting their call centres back to the UK. They state that the quality of the services and cultural misunderstanding are reasons for their return to the UK. Offshoring might be a low cost affair, but companies are not prepared to risk customer satisfaction. As a result, the rate of acceleration of growth is less in this sector. Companies that prefer to offshore choose Eastern Europe and South Africa as destinations instead of India and the Philippines, since the awareness of Western culture is much better in these countries. Information processing (Data entry) Demand for these services is increasing in the UK despite the current trend of digitisation. A lot of the offshore work here goes to the Philippines but there are also chances for other DCs. The expectation for the future is that information processing will no longer be a big thing in offshoring, as more and more of these services will be automated. Web services Demand for these services is very high in the UK. According to Ecode, the increase in this service could be exponential in the coming 5 years. Prices have already gone down drastically in the UK. The only way to get even lower prices is to offshore. The only problem that occurs when offshoring these kinds of services is the cultural issue. A good example can be found in India. When a web page is designed there, the technical part always looks very good; however, the colours they are using are not the colours we would pick in the EU. The same counts for market research. Also the way in which web based market research is done in India is different from the way it is done in the UK. Cultural differences influence the potential to offshore these services. In more nearshore destinations, such as Eastern Europe, these problems are much smaller as the cultural gap between these countries and the UK is much smaller. Finance and accounting While in the past UK banks stayed behind in adopting BPO, the market picked up recently. Declining budgets in the financial services sector are driving banks to cut back on their spending. This results in increasing use of BPO and offshoring activity. Large companies are closing some departments of their existing UK operations and shift these to offshore destinations like India. For example, credit card firm Capital One is shifting most of its jobs around accounting services to offshore destinations. India is doing well here because its accounting system is the same as in the UK. This is important because this makes it easier to transfer processes. An increasing number of offshore players recognises the opportunities in this marketplace. They are trying to penetrate the market by establishing presence onshore to meet local needs. Another segment that offers good opportunities for BPO suppliers is the insurance industry. Increased cost pressure in the insurance market leads to a higher demand for BPO. This makes it a sector to watch in the years to come. Human resources Human resource (HR) outsourcing has been going on for several years now. It is mainly the larger companies that are active in this sector as HR is too specialised for SMEs. With different laws on HR in each country, nearshoring is more popular because laws in nearshore countries are similar to UK laws. Procurement There are several large UK companies that already outsource their procurement partly or completely and in the light of global sourcing it is expected to be adopted on a larger scale. However, for smaller companies it will be hard to get savings out of outsourcing their procurement processes. The main fear when outsourcing procurement is losing control over the process. In procurement outsourcing, unlike other BPO domains, reduced labour costs are Page 5 of 10

6 less important. Advantages of procurement outsourcing can be found in smarter outsourcing decisions, effective relationship management and contract compliance. It is important that the contractor understands both the needs of his client and the nature of the market for the services to be procured. Research and development Very specific research is often needed here, but it is definitely offshored and nearshored. This BPO service has a large overlap with Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO). Good examples can be found in the pharmaceuticals industry. When, after a period of time, a patented drug becomes free to produce for other companies as well, research is done on the specific production process. This process is outsourced and offshored to very specialised companies that can offer industry specific tasks. Offshore models used in the UK The majority of companies in the UK that offshore use captive offshoring. Furthermore, an independent foreign partner and offshoring to an international company such as TATA is common as well. These three segments mainly count for the large UK companies and multinationals, according to industry experts. An outsourcing and offshoring model that is becoming increasingly popular in the UK is Multi Vendor Outsourcing. In this model, the initial process to be outsourced is split up in smaller tasks that are outsourced or offshored to different service suppliers. Multi Vendor Outsourcing is used to spread the risk for outsourcing or offshoring a process over several suppliers instead of relying on one large player to deliver the complete package. This kind of offshoring offers very good chances for DC companies, but only if the offer done by the DC supplier provides attractive cost reductions for the UK company in order to compensate for the risk of failure. A type of Multi Vendor Outsourcing in the high end of the market is the outsourcing of specific tasks to specialised niche players. Although there are still many large service deals that include a single partner, more and more contracts are outsourced to a variety of vendors. With increased competition, companies are looking to acquire the best-in-breed for each service. Countries such as China and destinations in Eastern Europe are home to both general BPO suppliers and an increasing number of specialised suppliers. Offshore and nearshore destinations India is by far the largest offshoring destination for the UK. This is mainly because of historic bonds and the English proficiency in India. South Africa and the Philippines are also important offshore destinations as a result of more or less the same motivations. As India only offers English language skills, many UK companies look towards Eastern and Central Europe for other language skills. Malta, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Ireland and Russia are also important nearshore destinations. Mr. Bullas states that China is coming up as an offshore destination, but it still has an education problem in the field of language and Western culture. Mr. Bullas expects China to be ready for offshoring from the EU in another 10 to 15 years. Trends These are the major trends and characteristics that influence the offshore BPO market in the UK: SMEs are not yet largely involved in offshoring and tend to keep their activities within the UK. Their main barriers are fear, uncertainty and doubt. Due to low customer acceptance, an increasing number of call centres are either transferred back to the UK or nearshored to destinations with better cultural awareness. In particular call centres that handle more complex and non-standard issues reassess their offshore activities. Beside offshoring non-core activities, large and multinational UK companies increasingly outsource and offshore higher value-added tasks. Offshoring in the finance and accounting sector is picking up fast as a result of, among other things, increased cost pressure and a shortage of skilled labour in this sector. Page 6 of 10

7 The number of single partner contracts contributes the most to the total BPO market in the UK, however, Multi Vendor Outsourcing is gaining popularity fast. Nearshoring is gaining importance for several BPO segments due to a more similar culture than in offshore destinations and the availability of a multilingual workforce. Opportunities and threats Trends and market developments offer opportunities and threats to exporters. A given trend can be a threat to some and an opportunity to others at the same time. The following trends should, therefore, always be analysed in relation to your specific circumstances. The main opportunities and threats for DC exporters are the following: + The increasing use of Multi Vendor Outsourcing offers good chances for DC companies that are able to deliver a good quality service at an attractive price. + The demand for offshore suppliers in the finance and accounting sector is growing fast. ± Although India is still the largest offshore destination for UK companies, demand for suppliers from nearshore destinations such as Eastern Europe is increasing fast. Chances in the UK SME market are still very small as these companies have not yet accepted offshoring and nearshoring as a real opportunity. Increased activity of Indian BPO providers on the UK market results in more competition for other DC companies. Useful sources Accountancy age news site with a focus on accounting services. Customer Contact Association (CCA) EUROITX - European Centre for Offshore Development National Outsourcing Association Trade channels for market entry The best way to enter the UK market, according to Mr. Bullas, is to register with UK outsourcing/offshoring associations such as NOA or Ecode. SMEs can register with Ecode for free and will be listed in a database with over 2,500 companies. Mr. Bullas emphasises that it is important for SMEs from DCs to have experience with providing services to a medium-sized or large company. This experience can be obtained best by working for a large company in a developing country. These companies are within reach and cultural issues are less important. When this is achieved the SME can look for partners in developed countries. Peter Ryan confirms this is the best way to enter the market; however, when you are a DC provider located in a country with a poor economic situation, you should target companies in neighbouring countries first. This experience will be more important to EU buyers. Smaller companies prefer using an advisor / intermediary, according to industry experts. With this method they feel more secure and contracts can be signed between UK partners and under UK law. SMEs from DCs should target these intermediaries by building up a solid business relationship with them. This is a long-term process requiring intensive marketing and sales techniques with a focus on promoting your company. As companies are already afraid to lose control over the service, they are more likely to hand the contract to a reliable partner. A good way to meet providers from the UK is to participate in conferences. These conferences and events are expensive, but worth the investment since at least 50% of the visitors are potential customers for SMEs from DCs. Joint ventures are another good way to get access to the UK market. Partners for a joint venture can also be found at these conferences and events. Ideally, service providers should approach clients directly by establishing a branch office or subsidiary in the UK with a local person as executive. This helps increase the level of trust of the customer. However this model is not realistic for most SMEs from DCs because of the large investment that is involved. Page 7 of 10

8 Specific trade structure facts for the UK The size, maturity and openness of the UK market are also its greatest challenges. Companies seeking to enter this market, or to expand their market share, face tough and well established competition from both domestic and third country competitors. Please refer to the CBI market survey the Business Process Outsourcing market in the EU for a more detailed explanation of the trade structure. Useful sources Some useful sources to find potential trade partners and to present your company as a BPO supplier are: Alsbridge consulting company (see textbox below) Customer Contact Association - BPO providers in this segment can register with this association and become listed in the CCA handbook European Centre for Offshore Development - click on the Find an outsourcing supplier button to search for BPO suppliers in the UK. Click on Vendor area and complete the form to appear in the list with offshore providers of BPO. For information on conferences and events hit Events and exhibitions EUROITX - this CBI supported website offers a matchmaking section where EU buyers and DC suppliers can meet HR magazine click on directory to access the human resource directory Orbys a leading outsourcing advisor in the UK Supplier directories A good way to promote your company is to be listed in a supplier directory. There are many associations and advisory firms which offer this service for free. A good example can be found on the website of Alsbridge ( a UK based BPO advisory firm. This company has set up a special website with information, news and trends on outsourcing that also includes an industry directory. A spokesperson of this company states that this service is very popular among larger and multinational clients but that SMEs in the UK have found their way to the directory as well. Alsbridge keeps in close contact with the key providers in the market. Smaller players have the option to send information about their services as well. This information will be put on the shared internet area that is accessible for Alsbridge consultants. 4 Price developments Since it is quite difficult for suppliers to give exact prices, it is also hard to collect information about current price levels. According to NOA, the general trend in prices is downwards. This is because of pressure on the margins and increased competition in the market. Most companies are actively looking for potential offshore sources. To give an indication of the differences in salaries between the UK and offshore BPO providers in DCs, please find the following. According to Invest in France ( a call centre representative in the UK costs approximately 26,000 for his employer. These costs can be compared to the average salary levels as shown in Table 4.1., although additional costs for the employer, such as taxes and social welfare reservations, must also be taken into account. Please refer to Section 5 of the CBI market survey covering the EU market for more information on price developments with a more detailed view on non voice salaries. Table 4.1 Voice BPO salary levels in supplying countries, per year, 2005 Average Entry Team Project Growth Salary level leader manager in % Vietnam 5,188 2,786 4,799 7, % China 7,634 4,088 7,111 11, % Page 8 of 10

9 Average Salary Entry level Team leader Project manager Growth in % India 7,779 4,287 7,218 11, % Thailand 8,806 4,404 8,080 13, % Philippines 9,844 5,457 9,153 14, % Slovakia 13,481 6,964 11,288 20, % Russia 16,313 8,977 14,964 27, % Malaysia 16,935 9,585 15,741 24, % Czech Rep 17,438 9,105 14,625 27, % Hungary 21,553 11,977 19,591 31, % Poland 24,874 13,394 22,881 36, % Israel 28,161 15,896 27,189 41, % South Africa 29,588 15,675 27,408 43, % Singapore 34,295 18,962 31,487 49, % Canada 34,462 19,384 32,258 49, % Ireland 43,732 23,455 39,751 64, % Source: NeoIT (2006) Useful sources Useful sources for finding price information are: European Centre for Offshore development (Ecode) Industry associations such as the National Outsourcing Association Visiting trade fairs. 5 Market access requirements As a service provider in a developing country preparing to access the UK, you should be aware of the market access requirements of your trading partners and the UK government. Requirements are demanded through legislation and through labels, codes and management systems. These requirements are based on working conditions, health and safety and social concerns. You need to comply with EU legislation and have to be aware of the additional nonlegislative requirements that your trading partners in the EU might request. For information on legislative and non-legislative requirements, go to Search CBI database at select BPO and UK in the category search, click on the search button and click on market access requirements. 6 Doing business General information on doing business, like approaching potential business partners, building up a relationship, drawing up an offer, handling the contract (methods of payment, and terms of delivery), can be found in CBI s export manuals Export Planner and Your image builder. Furthermore, cultural awareness is a critical skill in securing success as an exporter. Information on cultural differences in the EU can be found in Section 3 of CBI s export manual Exporting to the EU. These manuals can be downloaded from - go to search publications. Sales promotion Sales promotion for BPO can be made in different ways. Magazines are less important for BPO than for IT outsourcing but they may still be used. The general trade press could be an interesting option. Trade fairs can also be a good opportunity to contact potential clients. Beside trade fairs there are also conferences and seminars which are often very interesting because the outsourcing community comes together there. Trade press CIO magazine analysis of and insight into information technology trends HR magazine focus on human resources Page 9 of 10

10 InTouch contact / call centre magazine Outsource - the first UK magazine dedicated to outsourcing Newspapers for the UK can be found on Trade fairs Call centre expo held annually (September) in Birmingham. Softworld HR, payroll, accounting and finance solutions, held annually (October) in London. Outsourceworld the UK s largest outsourcing conference and exhibition, held annually (May) in London. Furthermore, the websites and can be used to find trade fairs for your specific outsourcing industry. Conferences and seminars Payroll conference and exhibition this conference with a focus on payroll services includes a multi country payroll summit, held annually (September) in Brighton. For an overview of conferences and seminars organised by the National Outsourcing Association in the UK please visit and hit events. Also visit and hit events and exhibitions for an overview of worldwide offshoring/outsourcing events. This survey was compiled for CBI by Facts Figures Future Disclaimer CBI market information tools : Page 10 of 10