Eversheds to offshore more support work, 100 jobs at risk
Eversheds is to offshore HR, administration and finance roles, with 100 jobs at risk of redundancy as a result.
Lee Ranson
The firm has signed a seven-year agreement with Accenture, which will also see Accenture develop a common IT platform for all the international
offices. Eversheds will also outsource HR support services and administration, general accounting functions, billing and collections and the business processes involved from procurement to payment to Accenture over the next 12 months.
The work will be offshored to Bangalore in India. As a result 100 roles in finance and human resources, mainly located in Birmingham, Cardiff and Leeds, will be at risk of redundancy.
Managing partner Lee Ranson explained that the job losses were likely to centre on those regional offices because the firm has already concentrated most of its back office functions there. The job losses are likely to affect those in junior roles.
Ranson said: “It’s important that any major law firm continues to adapt in line with changes in both our sector and the wider marketplace.
“We’ve worked over the last eight months to look at how best to deliver some of our HR and finance functions. This proposal would enable us to put in place a cost efficient, innovative and robust solution, which safeguards quality and enhances client service.
“It’s always regrettable when potential redundancies are a part of such a process and we will of course be consulting with all those members of staff who may be affected by this announcement. The proposals are to retain impacted staff for a minimum of six months to assist with the transition. Those affected will be offered enhanced redundancy terms and comprehensive outplacement support.”
The firm has begun a 28-day consultation and is proposing paying twice the statutory redundancy to those affected.
Ranson estimated that the cost savings would be “several million pounds per year”.
Last year Eversheds outsourced document production work to business process outsourcing (BPO) company Exigent in South Africa, saving an estimated £2m and resulting in 95 secretarial redundancies (14 September 2009).
The firm also sends legal work abroad on behalf of clients. Bulk repossession work for GE and volume conveyancing work for Aviva are carried out by Williams Lea in India.
Through redundancies, outsourcing and other cost-cutting measures such as trimming the equity, the firm pushed up its profits over the 2009-10 financial year, with average profit per equity partner (PEP) increasing 28 per cent from £404,000 to £517,000 (28 May 2010).
View results 10 per page | 20 per page | 50 per page
Readers' comments (44)
Anonymous | 15-Aug-2010 7:59 pm
Prior to my joining there was no relationship between finance and the client, the fee earners and partners did my function to avoid the client relationship being destroyed by some idiot who wouldn't understand the sensitivity of some client relationships. Fee earners and partners have little time to perform finance functions and should not have to. I have spent 2 years gaining the cofidence of the fee earners and partners and as a result I now have direct contact with not only the clients finance teams but also general counsel/presidents/owners etc. As a result the fee earners and partners figures have drastically improved. I agree with Goron G Gekko, I was under the illusion that I was appreciated. I am sure some of my fee earners and partners will miss me for a short while, however they will soon move on and return to the previous way and put a stop to the offshore finance team getting involved in their matters. I recall when I was in Uni the Dean saying "It's dog eat dog out there", how could I have been so naïve!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Adrian | 16-Aug-2010 12:38 pm
At £500K per partner I'm glad I don't need a solicitor!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 16-Aug-2010 4:52 pm
i completely understand and support the need for efficiencies but not at the cost of service levels, integrity and client care.
This will prove to be a costly exercise in more ways than one.
You get what you pay for.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Marketing Guru | 17-Aug-2010 3:54 pm
Anonymous | 14-Aug-2010 2:21 pm
"Ive worked in a corporate law firm for many years starting as support and becoming a fee earner and its a well known fact that the support staff are the backbone of the firm! the partners in my firm did nothing but socialise, play golf and have affairs with their secretaries!! they didnt have targets to meet and just spent most of their time in what they called "marketing"!!"
**
Couldn't agree more! Having worked as part of the marketing team at two large international firms I cannot stress what a false view the partners have of the team, and actually of the whole concept of marketing. They just try it on with all the skirts and use their budgets to schmooze all the wrong people. Spend budgets on decent marketers, genuine client care and client service reviews and you'll be making enough money to keep all your support staff AND increase PEP.
I wonder how the marketing teams in India will be able to print off 500 seminar packs and put them out on chairs in the board room with all the pens facing the right way within half an hour.
Good luck!
But seriously, to all those people who are saying "I pity the partners at Eversheds"...course you don't!! You'd screw over your support staff for half a mil per year!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Retirement ahoy!! | 18-Aug-2010 1:14 pm
Nothing ever changes, for the last 25 years I've seen the noses in the trough. This used to be a profession, but no more. Thank God I'm getting out soon.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 18-Aug-2010 1:30 pm
The atmosphere in "the Shed" is appalling right now, so many staff de-motivated and expected to work like trojans for six months before they hand "everything up to date" over to Bangalore...like that's going to happen. How do you keep motivated in this situation.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Woolly thinking | 18-Aug-2010 1:44 pm
It's not just the salary costs which are part of this calculation. There are also significant on-costs associated with siting these staff in expensive city centre locations. Each individual can effectively cost twice their salary p/a if you take the office space, computer, admin and other ancillaries into account.
I see an opportunity here for an onshore outsourcing company offering these functions from UK-based staff.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
gone and not forgotten | 18-Aug-2010 4:43 pm
Intersting sales pitch. "Dear [insert plc or big pricvate sector emplyer name here]. Please allow me to introuduce myself. I am a leading partner in evershed's employment law team. We would like to do your HR work, from simple day to day advice to strategic guidance. Our partner rate is £450 per hour. Our own HR advice? Oh no we don't do that, yes, that's right we use Accenture, based out in Bangalore. Very efficient, very cheap, but I think YOU should instruct US.
Shurely shome mishtake??/
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 19-Aug-2010 4:53 pm
As a foreigner working over here in the UK I am always amazed at how people assume I must have lived here a long time or that perhaps I am the only one from my village (so to speak) who can use a PC, speak English, interpret the nuances of English culture let alone win business and function competently. It's only when I reveal further that I am hardly the brightest from my village and that there are thousands more like me; eager, educated, honest and yes much much cheaper that they begin to appreciate that perhaps their job can be done a lot lot cheaper elsewhere.
My core finance team of four (excluding credit control and accounts etc) is made up of say the Financial controller, a management accountant, an assistant and a senior accountant - a wage bill of £200K pa for these four guys - and what value do they deliver for this ? Fancy Excel reports ? C'mon - for £200K pa you can go shopping around the world and replace whatever service is being provided for much much less. In a world where "the Intranet" is a click away you can manipulate a spreadsheet from anywhere !
Only mugs are still paying "accountants" etc top dollar to post entries and "run reports" !!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 13-Sep-2010 2:01 pm
If the cost savings are expected to be several millions of pounds per year perhaps the redundancy payments should be further enhanced.
Disappointed and demoralised employee.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment