UK outsourcing market was rubbish thanks to Brexit

Beancounters at ISG said that the UK outsourcing market was rubbish last year.

Initially, there were brief signs of a recovery in the UK’s outsourcing market, but it was not enough for declines to continue in 2018.

The traditional outsourcing market in the UK fell 27 percent to £2.2 billion last year, despite a five percent increase in contract numbers.

ISG attributed the decline to Brexit, claiming that before the EU referendum the UK market averaged three €800 million quarters of traditional outsourcing annually.

It has only reached this level in one quarter since the referendum.

The third quarter last year had shown signs of promise, seeing the value of deals jump 40 percent.

To be fair, traditional outsourcing in EMEA fell nine per cent year on year to €12.9 billion, while as-a-service outsourcing rocketed 48 percent to hit €4.9 billion.

Steve Hall, president of ISG, said: “Despite ongoing political and economic uncertainty in Europe and resulting business caution, companies are making a significant investment in digital technologies to improve their ability to compete and to engage with their customers.

“This is a clear testament that the tailwinds of digital transformation are stronger than the headwinds of political and economic issues.”

The Nordics market thrived, with the value of contracts shooting up 20 percent to €1.1 billion.