Outsourcing failures hit one third of UK companies

One in three UK companies have experienced major disruption or complete failure due to the actions of outsourced providers over the past three years, according to a survey on third party management from Deloitte.

And it found that just 11 per cent of UK companies feel equipped to deal with such failures during times of uncertainty.

The global survey, which included the responses of 107 UK companies across all sectors, also found that the UK had one of the highest dependencies on outsourcers, at 80 per cent.

Kristian Park, global extended enterprise risk management partner at Deloitte, said: “This year’s survey results demonstrate that third parties are increasingly relied upon, with this trend likely to increase. Unfortunately, management processes and technology that support the oversight of these relationships are not keeping up, creating an ‘execution gap’.

“While there is clear organisational commitment to address this, it is not being matched by the right skills, processes and technology to achieve intended results. While both political and economic uncertainty has slowed investment and subsequent progress, there is greater appreciation of the related risks.”