Almost one quarter (22%) of UK small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considering offshoring, while one in 10 are very likely to offshore elements of their businesses in 2010, according to research conducted on behalf of SLASSCOM, the development body for Sri Lankan outsourcing.

The report, entitled ‘The SME Offshoring Readiness Index’, also found that 20% of businesses had increased their interest in offshoring as a direct result of the recession. Apart from the recession, the biggest driver behind UK SMEs’ interest in offshoring was the current cost of UK labour, with 28% indicating this was an issue, and 13% said they would use offshoring due to a lack of available UK skills.

When asked what they would be most likely to offshore, SMEs indicated the following processes:

• IT development/maintenance  24%
• Data processing   20%
• Customer services  18%
• Other back office processes 16%
• Finance and accounting  15%