'This is our first foray into nearshoring': Allvotec to shift 200 jobs to Bulgaria
Channel services provider puts UK roles at risk as it prepares to move some support and back-office functions to Sofia
Channel services provider Allvotec has put around 300 UK staff at risk of redundancy as it prepares to nearshore some of its back-office and support functions for the first time.
Having taken on 70 staff based in Sofia via its recent acquisition of Cisco partner ISG, the firm - formerly known as Daisy Partner Services - plans to enlist a further 200 Bulgarian heads, CEO Glen Williams told CRN.
This is the first time Allvotec has nearshored any functions, Williams stressed.
"Part of our rationale for buying ISG was their capabilities in the networking space, but also their phenomenal capabilities and team in Bulgaria," he explained.
"Phoenix, as it was, and then Daisy Partner Services as it became, and now Allvotec, has never done anything in terms of looking at its desk-based and back-office services. That's going back 20 years.
"So we've looked at it, and - yes - it's factually correct that up to 300 roles have been put at risk, but in excess of 200 of those roles are being replaced in Bulgaria. It's been part of our plan from the start, and we've just taken a lease on a bigger facility over there. We're going to have a state-of-the-art service desk, a NOC and UC capability. Some of our back office functions - IT and finance etc - will also be delivered out of Bulgaria."
The move to nearshore is in line with many of Allvotec's customers, Williams emphasised.
Bulgaria is already used as significant nearshore hub by distributor Ingram Micro, among others.
Williams confirmed that Allvotec, which currently employs around 1,500 staff, is also in consultation with a smaller number of engineers.
"We've just rolled out some new technology that will improve the productivity of the engineers. And we've also just acquired ISG, so there's always synergies there.
"In terms of the net headcount reduction, it's really small."