Arvato Index – reaction from Lloyds Bank
Comments from Chris Sood-Nicholls, managing director and head of global services at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said:
“In what has been a challenging start to the year for the outsourcing sector, the growth in spending by financial services and retail businesses goes to show how outsourcing can be used as both a tactical and strategic tool to help deliver for companies experiencing material change in their sectors.
“Whether due to regulatory reform, subdued trading or structural reforms through digitalisation, both sectors are under pressure to improve performance while delivering long-term cost savings. This is exactly where outsourcing can help.
“Meanwhile, we don’t expect the slowdown across outsourcing to be anything more sinister than a pause for both sides to draw breath.
“Given the events of this year, some commissioning organisations will review their vendor contingency plans. At the same time, some providers might want to use this period to boost flexibility for unforeseen events.
“However, while that could lead to a slightly fallow year for outsourcing, we ultimately don’t see any reason to fear anything more severe. Outsourcing can offer a competitive choice and bring innovation to firms seeking to divest non-core activities and focus on their core business.”
