Wesleyan Assurance Society to invest £10m in back office; dismisses outsourcing
Wesleyan Assurance Society, the financially strong mutual, is to invest £10 million into the back office administration at its Birmingham headquarters after deciding it would no longer look at options for outsourcing operations.
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The move will preserve 200 administrative jobs at the Colmore Circus base.
The Wesleyan has been examining its outsourcing options for two years, including the possibility of moving operations to South Africa, India or elsewhere within the UK. But the Society has decided to keep administration in-house to maintain its high standards of service.
Derek Byfield, operations director at the Wesleyan, commented: "Like every other company in the financial services industry, we have had to seriously consider the options for outsourcing our administration. We received tender proposals from several parties, some of whom had offshore capability. But we came to the view that outsourcing would be the wrong decision.
"Customers come to us because we have detailed knowledge about them and can service their financial needs to a high standard. Our business proposition would not stand up to scrutiny if the policies we write for customers end up being processed in the same building as policies for half a dozen other companies. We have relations with customers that can last for 20 years or more, during which time clients will come to us for advice. It works much more efficiently, and differentiates our service, if we deal with those inquiries from our own office."