Tesco has started to outsource work on UK projects to Indian architects and quantity surveyors based in India. Building reported that the retailer flew the workers to Britain last year, where they were trained in UK architecture and QS skills.
A source in Tesco’s supply chain told Building that the firm was only using Indian consultants for the initial stages of projects, and that when development reached the planning permission stage work would be transferred back to this country.
But an architect that works with Tesco said: “There is a worry this will spread beyond the planning stage and Tesco will try and do more of the project in India. It doesn’t operate like a traditional client – I wouldn’t rule anything out.”
A Tesco spokesperson confirmed: “We use Tesco staff to carry out feasibility studies on our new stores. These staff have been trained by Tesco and some are based in India.”
A source at a rival supermarket said it had decided not to go down the same route because “it wasn’t right”. The source said: “The savings are potentially massive. Given how keen Tesco have been in outsourcing other areas of business to India, such as IT, it is only a matter of time before they do the same with other parts of the construction supply chain. This could mean a lot less work for British construction.”
Last year the Association of Consultancy and Engineering hit out at Tesco for boosting record profits by seeking cuts of up to 40 per cent from construction suppliers.
At that time, Nelson Ogunshakin, chief executive of the ACE, told Building: “Telling consultants at the front end of delivering key services to cut their fees by 40% is not the action of an enlightened client.”
Tesco’s move conicides with the publication this week of research by the Construction Industry Council and ConstructionSkills that showed consultants are continuing to suffer in the downturn. Of 300 practices surveyed, 54% said their income had fallen in the 12 months to October 2009. About 46% said they had made redundancies over the period.
Yet again it’s Tesco doing as they please, in this country. It’s about time the UK government stood up to Tesco and put them in their place. There’s a recession still on in the UK, despite what officials say and so Tesco should be passing this work onto BRITISH workers. Another reason why we should all shop at Morrisons and Asda instead.
Why do people keep insisting British Jobs for British workers! All retailers look at the botton line, it’s time to try to promote added value for services to ensure that work is not outsourced overseas.
It seems that if Tesco want Customer Loyalty there are some things they should do to earn that – Investing in British business being one of them. We have a long way to go before we are out of the recession and some national loyalty is in order here. I for one will shop elsewhere from now on. Isn’t that how loyalty works?