Camerons battles backlash from controversial outsourcing deal
CMS CAMERON McKenna has admitted that a number of elements of its business support function may be retained in-house after facing a barrage of criticism over its deal with outsourcing specialist Integreon.
Since the news of the £600m deal broke, The Lawyer’s online messageboard has been inundated with comments from Camerons’ staff criticising the tie-up.
Director of operations Tony Wright, who has been central to overseeing the agreement and will begin a secondment at Integreon next month, admitted that there has been some negative reaction among Camerons’ staff.
Wright said: “There’s been a mix [of reactions] and that’s understandable. It’s a change for the majority of people and that brings uncertainty.”
Wright added that some functions of the business may not move over to Integreon. “We still don’t know. It may be that some elements prove too strategic and it doesn’t make sense [to outsource them].
“It may be that some individuals are retained by the law firm - it’s never been the case that every element of the business support process would be transferred across,” continued Wright.
The firm has begun a series of meetings with staff at all levels. It has set up sub-committees of the staff forum to discuss the changes and has started publishing regular newsletter updates.
The deal will see a shared service centre set up at Camerons’ London HQ, with a capacity for up to 200 support staff. It will then be made available to other law firms in an agreement similar to that signed last year between Integreon and Osborne Clarke.
However, the Bristol firm has outsourced only around three quarters of its back office, with senior figures understood to be reluctant to move towards the full-service model.
Osborne Clarke managing partner Simon Beswick said: “We took an approach that was more conservative, partly because no one had done it before and so the risk was much greater.
“Also, we felt that some areas are less process-driven and we wanted to keep some areas in-house.”
Some commentators have questioned how Camerons will be able to guarantee confidentiality if functions such as knowledge management, communications and business development are outsourced.
One senior partner at a rival firm commented: “We certainly wouldn’t do it and I can’t imagine clients would be too happy about it either.”
Wright claimed that processes will be put in place to ensure confidentiality.
He said: “Some people would be dedicated only to CMS Cameron McKenna but would still be employed in the shared centre.”
The new centre is expected to go live in the autumn after a three-month due diligence process.
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Readers' comments (35)
Offence Taken | 24-May-2010 3:21 pm
I have to respond to Anonymous | 24-May-2010 1:05 pm.
I truly hope that as soon as you pressed "submit" you regretted it. Do you really see this as an issue of "supply and demand, "a balance of power" difficulty or a "wage inflation problem"? Where for God's sake is your humanity? We are talking about human beings, hard-working and once loyal and dedicated to a firm which not long ago seemed to have a sensitive moral compass. These are not figures on a profit and loss account; they are not numbers on a list. They are real people who are angry, disappointed and fearful of being sacrificed in the greedy pursuit of evermore more profit per point.
When will Cameron's wake up to the terrifying prospect of a senior partner very soon having to admit that its greatest asset is no longer its people, but its outsourcing contract? Before it's too late?
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Camerons Staff - Toughen Up | 24-May-2010 4:34 pm
Does anyone honestly join a firm and think that they are not dispensable. It's 2010. You're working in the City of London is one of the most rapacious, capitalistic envionments in the world. Surprise, surprise - the firm wants to save a few quid. Deal with it or move on you whingers.
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Anonymous | 24-May-2010 5:23 pm
It is one of the most rapacious capitalistic environments in the world because of morons like you. If you don't like hearing our 'whinging' why are you even reading our comments, let alone going to the trouble to write uninteresting and unconstructive responses? Why don't you go and do something better with your time. Oh, that's right, you haven't got anything better to do. Shame! - nice way to lead your life.
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Anonymous | 24-May-2010 5:34 pm
Ease off and have a heart "Camerons Staff - Toughen Up", the 80's have gone, and you're mild Gordon Gekko attitude is bordering on ridiculous!
P.S. Lunch is for Wimps!
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Anonymous | 24-May-2010 5:57 pm
I agree with the message on toughen up. Job for life is a mirage even in the most socialist, protectionist environments. Do people really expect that in the City of London?
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Anonymous | 24-May-2010 1:05 pm | 24-May-2010 6:34 pm
No regrets.
The regions suffer chronic unemployment, there are plenty of unemployed and perfectly able people outside of the SE region (which incidentally drives down wages).
Firms can employ people at a fraction of the cost, yet like lemmings most firms flock to London, without clear advantage or reason for it. Same goes for the Government who seem to only instruct London based firms.
The SE region gets a disproportionate amount of Government investment and projects, and then they wonder why growth is concentrated in the SE.
Act like lemmings and soon you will find a cliff to fall off.
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Anonymous | 24-May-2010 10:04 pm
As I dragged myself into CMS today feeling totally let down and unmotivated, I realised that after 20 years working for a 'prestigious city law firm', come October I, if not made redundant, will be working for a 'foreign service provider'!! Good career path I thought!!! Myself and my long-term colleagues have been loyal through the difficult times, put in extra hours and as they asked 'gone that extra mile'. For what, so that they can get fatter wallets while us 'mere back office staff' get sold down the river to some company who when telling us one of their buzz words is 'SMILE' (Spread Magic and Love Everywhere) couldn't even remember what it stood for!!!!!
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Disillusioned CMSer | 24-May-2010 11:53 pm
That's fine, 'Toughen Up', but the problem Camerons faces is that it doesn't offer the pay, prestige, work/life balance or quality work to counterbalance the impact of the change in attitude.
The poster who worked there between 2004-7 summed it up well in my opinion: used to be a great place to work but the question is why you would choose to work there now that it's both well off the MC in terms of prestige/quality of work but also not a brilliant place to work.
I honestly believed that it was one of the City's best-kept secrets up until about 12-18 months ago as the work and pay are decent but it was relatively relaxed and collegiate. That's gone now so its 'USP' has gone too.
Weston came in promising to push the firm to the next level in terms of prestige and profitability, and you never know what the next few years will bring, but the transition from cuddly also-ran to Silver Circle contender isn't an easy one and people will get bruised along the way. The question is whether he can get things moving before the better people all leave!
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F1 | 25-May-2010 4:16 am
Camerons Staff - Toughen Up: No, nobody thinks they are indispensable and I am sure people would have floated their CV's around and would land in better jobs, worser jobs, similar jobs etc.,
What is a problem is, it is not only going to affect the employees but the employer as well. It is a mutual relationship, you do not honor it, the people who come in as part of Integreon will work dispassionately.
Yes, the work gets done for a cheaper rate but not real, good, high quality.
I am presuming that you are sitting outside and as the classic quote goes - "It is recession as long as it does not affect me, but it becomes depression the moment my job is at stake!" is why you are able to pass on a different perspective than the so-called-whiners.
A couple of questions -
Integreon is a 200M company and how come CMCK award them 600M contract? Is this a JV? If so, is CMCK losing so much on their legal advice business that they are hoping on getting revenue through these means?
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Anonymous | 25-May-2010 10:43 am
CMS CAMERON MCKENNA what a joke asked staff to take flex saying it was an investment in the company! the support staff did this at personal sacrifice and now we are told that it was not an investment. after loosing 20% of our pay we are then shiped out so that they can protect their profits!
This is pure greed and insensitive in the present climate! I bet there will be no pay rise or bonus this year until the move to integron goes ahead!
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