Business owners plan to increase their use of outsourcing services over the next year, according to research* carried out by Evelyn Partners.

The poll conducted among 500 UK business owners with turnovers of £5 million upwards found that 41 per cent of those say it’s likely** they’ll outsource internal functions such as payroll and tax over the next 12 months – a sizeable uplift from the 2 per cent who said they already use business outsourcing services.

Evelyn Partners’ business outsourcing services team – part of the group’s professional services business which will next year re-brand to S&W – attribute the expected growth in this area to a number of factors, including the need for businesses to control costs, scale fast and tap into specialist skills in an increasingly complex world.

Research previously released by Evelyn Partners revealed that business owners had fast-tracked their exit plans in the last year. Nearly one in three (29 per cent) surveyed had accelerated business exits in the past 12 months – an uplift on the 23 per cent who said 18 months ago that they had brought forward business exits over the previous year.

Helen Bassett, partner in the business outsourcing services team at Evelyn Partners in Bristol, said: “We’re seeing a significant increase in demand for outsourced services from businesses with shorter life cycles, such as tech firms.

“These businesses tend to grow quickly, and exit quickly, so are often less keen on building and running internal teams. Outsourcing is a simple way for fast-growing firms to stay focused on their core business while also making sure that essential back-office functions are running smoothly.

“Technology is transforming back-office functions, with automation tools, robotics and cloud-based services delivering significant benefits. But this requires significant investment not only in the latest hardware and software, while also posing challenges in finding skilled employees in specialist areas such as finance.

“Many firms are therefore now choosing to outsource some or all aspects of back-office functions to specialist providers which in invest in the training and development of their employees.”

*The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 500 18+ UK Business Owners (Businesses with a turnover of £5m+). The data was collected between 18.09.2024-02.10.2024. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles. Censuswide is also a member of the British Polling Council.

**Combines ‘Very likely’ and ‘Somewhat likely’