Business services

The current recessionary economic environment is a double edged sword for the business services sector.

In an age of austerity, cost control is an area of focus for all businesses. With revenue growth difficult to achieve, there is a real drive in both the public and private sector to ensure maximum efficiency in all areas of back office (i.e. administrative) and indeed even some front office (client facing) services. This is leading to pressure to consider outsourcing all but essential, core business functions in areas such as:

• Recruitment
• IT
• Cleaning & waste management
• Facilities management
• Order processing & invoicing

Helping our clients with current sector issues

However, where services are already outsourced, cost constraints are forcing retendering and other attempts to drive down costs. Some of these are bold; outright attempts to reduce contractually agreed terms, are no longer shocking and are almost expected. The key is to know what concessions can be extracted in return to mitigate the pain. Even though the full impact of public sector cuts may result in reductions in the purchase of some services, in many cases restructuring of contracts over longer periods may serve to lengthen the period over which reliable cash flows can be predicted.

There are other opportunities. Despite the best efforts of the coalition to curtail regulation, they are likely to have limited success. The ever onward march of regulation in areas such as employment rights, health and safety and environmental laws is leading to greater reliance on third party suppliers.

Industry expertise with international reach

In challenging times, we understand the issues the business service sector faces. We have an integrated approach across different geographies and disciplines designed to deliver the highest quality advice in the most efficient way. Throughout the UK and internationally, Baker Tilly will harness its network of experts to deliver strong, local support across a range of disciplines including:

• Audit and assurance services
• Tax advice and compliance with corporation tax and VAT
• Corporate finance advice on strategic acquisitions, exit plans, business disposals, initial public offerings and debt and equity fund raising
• Remuneration planning including tax efficient incentive schemes