It is not often that outsourcing hits the BBC's 10pm news. But that is exactly what happened in June when Powergen announced that it would be closing its Indian call centres and moving its customer services back to the UK.
Nick Horler, managing director of Powergen, said: "Offshore call centres may have their place for certain industries. However, we believe that we can best achieve industry-leading customer service by operating solely in the UK."
He further stated that, while offshore costs can be lower than in the UK, "we're simply not prepared to achieve savings at the risk or expense of customer satisfaction".
Is this the start of a backlash against offshoring, or even outsourcing in general? The reality is far more complex. For those in the outsourcing industry, the move by Powergen is not a new development, but part of a wider trend that has been quietly taking place over the past few years towards a more sophisticated approach to outsourcing.
