Over the past two years, an accumulation of rising costs and lacklustre service has seen 59 per cent of UK finance executives transfer their offshore business operations back to the UK.

The new trend comes off the back of increased competition and a pressure from the top to maximise performance, Matt Weston, director at Robert Half UK claimed.

“In order to achieve those two objectives, as well as offer a premium service, many firms are bringing key business operations back to the UK so as to create ‘centres of excellence’.”

His analysis is based on Robert Half UK findings, which queried 100 CFOs and FDs across the nation. Some 64 per cent claimed the move to be resultant of service quality complaints. The number of finance executives citing rising costs was almost just as high – at 54 per cent – while 53 per cent and 37 per cent pointed to a lack of skills and efficiency in offshore regions respectively.

“The move back to the UK shows that organisations are looking for and in need of a functioning workforce that is efficient and equipped with the right skills,” continued Weston. “UK firms are already seeing the benefits, experiencing greater innovation and increased efficiencies, and finally have access to the necessary expertise that was previously hindering businesses that had moved operations offshore.”

Indeed, 44 per cent of services leaders pointed to an increase in service quality. The move has seen a further increase in customer responsiveness (42 per cent), led to a higher focus on the core business (41 per cent), not to mention an emphasis on corporate innovation (38 per cent).

The economy is also likely to benefit, Robert Half indicated, suggesting financial companies will be creating additional jobs and career development opportunities for local talent.

The recruiter also found that more companies would hop on the band wagon if the perceived skills gap weren’t an issue.

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