About 22 percent i.e., one quarter of small and medium enterprises in UK want to go for offshoring. About 1 in 10 are likely to offshore their elements of their businesses in 2010 as per the research conducted by ICM Research in November on behalf of SLASSCOM which is the development body for Sri Lankan outsourcing.

As per the SME Offshoring Readiness Index, 20 percent of business have increased their interest in offshoring as a result of recession. The current force that is driving SMEs in UK is the cost of labor. 28 percent of them prioritized this issue. About 13 percent expressed that they would be using offshoring as a result of lack of availability of skills in UK.

16 percent of the SMEs are opting offshoring to focus on core competences and 14 percent want to extend service hours. They are also expecting offshoring to expand and strengthen the businesses in UK.

By MND A01