Part 1- Brief overview
A wave of UK businesses appear to be bringing call‑centre and distribution jobs back from overseas. Is this true and are there benefits to the workers of England if this happens?
Without a doubt if this is accurate then this is a reversal of a two‑decade trend largely driven by rising costs abroad, customer dissatisfaction, and shifting economic priorities.
Overseas Offshoring: The Prior High-Water Mark
Since the early 2000s, major UK firms offshored customer service to low‑cost locations like India, the Philippines, South Africa, and eastern Europe, often halving labour costs.
Yet hidden costs began emerging from moving these operations overseas, high staff turnover, cultural misalignment, and declining customer satisfaction seem to have started to change this.
Research has shown attrition in offshore call‑centres can reach 24–75%, compared to ~12% in the UK. This has led to increased recruitment, training costs, and lower first‑contact resolution eroding the financial justification for offshoring.
Companies Alleged to be Bringing Jobs Back
- BT / EE pledged to handle all consumer calls from the UK (and Ireland) by 2020, citing improved satisfaction after reshoring.
- Powergen, which outsourced to India 5 years prior, closed that operation, creating 980 domestic jobs.
- Santander, in the early 2010s, moved its Bombay centre to Burnley, hiring 500 UK staff for 1.5 million call volume.
- Shop Direct (GUS) shut its Bangalore facility after service quality declined and returned 250 roles to the UK.
- Others include Nationwide, Legal & General, RBS, Co‑operative Bank, Aviva, Abbey, Abbey National, New Call Telecom and RSA
Recent Data & Context
Though most reversals occurred between 2004–2018, the trend appears to remains. A UK‑based telecom provider in 2011 noted labour‐cost parity between India and UK. Recognising travel, real estate, handling time advantages as well as, also the shift to “nearshoring” during COVID shut down highlighted risks in relying on offshore.
What This Would Mean for the Economy
1. Job Creation & Tax Revenue
Reshoring creates domestic roles, supporting incomes, tax receipts, and consumer spending. Reddit users estimate each relocated job could bring an extra £7k–10k annually in income tax and NI. With hundreds or thousands of roles, that represents tens of millions in public revenue.
2. Consumer Satisfaction & Brand Value
Local service boosts customer experience, Santander and BT saw measurable improvements in customer satisfaction metrics after repatriating services. This translates into loyalty, reduced churn*, and higher lifetime customer value.
(* manging to retain customers rather than customers leaving)
3. Hidden Cost Reduction
UK centres benefit from lower churn: staff tend to stay longer, reducing training and recruitment costs. Handling time is also often shorter: one UK telecom firm observed a UK call took 3 minutes vs 4 minutes offshore. Although this dooesn’t seem significant this is support by customer satisfaction.
4. Local Economic Boost
Jobs pay into local economies, further stimulating demand for housing, retail, and services. Commercial real‑estate in cities like Glasgow and Lancaster benefited from office‑to‑call‑centre conversions.
5. Strategic Resilience
Pandemic disruptions and attrition spikes have shown that domestic call‑centres offer more operational stability compared to remote facilities in remote countries
Could Companies Be Taxed More for Offshoring?
Off‑Shore Penalties
The idea of levying taxes or “outsourcing levies” on companies that offshore came up often in public discussion but, there is no current UK law imposing such penalties. This is something that could easily be implemented but!!
Incentives to Onshore
By contrast, governments can use positive incentives: tax credits, wage subsidies, apprenticeship grants, or Research and Development credits tied to location-based jobs. These financial carrots are often more politically feasible than sticks, and some have been trialled, especially post‑Brexit to attract investment.
Precedents from Elsewhere
France and Italy have offered bonuses to firms that keep or return jobs onshore. The U.S. similarly provides tax credits under certain state schemes for reshoring. These approaches blend fiscal support with country and county development goals. The WEU believes that the advantages to returning jobs back to England is significant and the UK government needs to explore this.
Has It Worked Elsewhere?
United States / Continental Europe
President Trump’s Onshoring Initiative and specific state-level tax credits have helped bring some manufacturing and tech support jobs back from Mexico and Asia. While success is debated, several call‑centre projects have returned with public incentives.
France’s PACTE law (2019) offers regional investment support, helping service firms repatriate. Italy’s similar initiatives target domestic job creation, though results vary based on bureaucracy and market forces.
Lessons Learned
- Quality matters: cost savings from offshoring are often balance against employees leaving
- Consumer pressure works: public backlash over offshore centres drives corporate change.
- Incentives or penalties: countries using tax breaks for onshoring tend to see more sustainable returns than those considering punitive measures. But both could be used
Conclusion: A Strategic Opportunity for the England
The return of call centre jobs to England is a response to shifting business realities. Offshore models now
face challenges such as rising costs, staff turnover, and pandemic-related disruptions.
Reshoring offers clear benefits:- For companies: improved efficiency, customer satisfaction, and brand trust- For workers: increased job opportunities and stability- For government: higher tax revenues and economic growth
While taxing offshoring may be politically difficult, targeted incentives are proving effective. The Workers of England Union (WEU) urges the government to actively support reshoring efforts as a pathway to a more resilient and locally grounded economy