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The Advantages of Nearshoring

Ahead of Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU), Ireland’s position as a multilingual hub within the Eurozone has become an attractive opportunity for UK organisations looking to outsource their services closer to home, rather than further afield. ‘Nearshoring’ has therefore become an increasingly popular option for many UK companies. The combination of Ireland’s skill pool and multilingual advantage, as the only native English-speaking country to remain in the EU, are key factors for this demand. Here David Corcoran, Global Outsourcing Advisor for Enterprise Ireland, explores the benefits of nearshoring and why they may outweigh those of offshoring. The Shift Towards Nearshoring

There has been a huge, global shift away from the traditionally favoured offshoring model, which previously saw service providers across Asia and the Middle East secure UK service contracts, and more towards nearshoring. Factors for change include concerns about poor communications, differences in work practices and culture, as well as increased costs.

Skills on Tap

There are more than 6,000 jobs supported by outsourcing contracts between Ireland and the UK, with Irish companies providing a vital skills injection on tap to UK companies. Ireland has been providing competitive BPO services since the 1980’s; offering stable, innovative and flexible services to top organisations around the globe. Ireland’s reputation in the field is a result of their provision of services to a number of international organisations which have moved their EMEA and global headquarters to Ireland. Such organisations include Citibank, Dell, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft and Paypal. Many of these have harnessed Irish service providers including Abtran, Arise, Eishtec, SalesSense, and RigneyDolphin during their relocation.

Why Ireland

The combination of Ireland’s competitive employee salaries and excellent work life balance has facilitated the country in attracting and retaining the best talent from across Europe. With the addition of these employees, to an already young, well educated, and progressive workforce, Ireland has advanced itself into a leading country in the outsourcing industry. As partnerships with multinationals developed domestically, Irish providers saw opportunities to scale and grow international. Many now have developed their own new customer bases across the UK, in various industries including financial services, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and utilities.

There are a number of clear advantages for UK companies sourcing a nearshoring relationship with the Irish. Proximity, operating in the same time zone, and retaining the same business hours eliminate some of the issues experienced when outsourcing further afield. Issues can be resolved in real time without delay or communication error. Ireland is also a short commute from the UK, permitting a more interpersonal relationship between businesses to grow. Benefits of this include trust and effective training. This has helped to ensure that the culture of a UK organisation is being reflected by Irish providers, and to their end users, service providers are seamlessly considered to be an extension of the UK organisation.

Innovation

Multilingual skills, industry experienced talent, and proximity are clear contributing factors to the recent shift in outsourcing behaviour, but the principal competitive challenge in the outsourcing market revolves around the need for flexibility and speed in implementing customised client solutions. Irish companies have consequently risen to this and have made the ‘customer journey’ centric to their business operations, with Irish SMEs recently noted among the most innovative in Europe by the European Commission. This customer-first focus has led to the creation of seamless services which give UK organisations an ‘Irish advantage’ in customer engagement and is a key reason why UK companies are looking across the Irish Sea for their outsourcing needs.

David Corcoran David Corcoran is Global Outsourcing Advisor for Enterprise Ireland, based in London. Enterprise Ireland is the Irish Government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Enterprise Ireland .