CMS Cameron McKenna is to scale back its staff outsourcing agreement with Integreon just three years into its ten-year contract.
The news comes four days after Osborne Clarke confirmed it will dramatically reduce its own use of the outsourcing provider.
Duncan Weston, CMS managing partner, today (28 March) confirmed that the firm is considering turning to an alternative provider for facility services currently provided by Integreon but would not provide any detail of how many staff would be affected or the name of the third party provider.
CMS and Integreon first struck the deal, the largest of its kind worth just under £600m, in May 2010. At the time the firm hoped to establish a revolutionary alternative model for legal support services by outsourcing its entire support staff function, including finance, human resources and IT.
Following the original deal CMS made roughly 9% of its support staff redundant and relocated another 21% to either Bristol or India.
Weston said: ‘Integreon remains a trusted and strategic procurement partner for us in delivering efficiencies for the firm and our clients. In collaboration with Integreon and as part of good business practice, we continually review all aspects of these services to ensure those efficiencies are maintained.
‘We can confirm that we are currently considering the possibility of an alternative third party provider for one part of the facilities services currently provided by Integreon and they are leading the sourcing project to find us the best in class facilities provider. In addition Integreon is increasing the provision of legal process support for our firm and our clients.
‘Employees have been informed and both CMS and Integreon are committed to confirming final decisions as soon as possible.’
In the same statement, it said that the firm would increase the level of legal process outsourcing managed by Integreon.
Osborne Clarke announced earlier this week that 65 of its 75 staff outsourced to Integreon in February 2009 would be returning to the firm while the firm’s Bristol and Reading hospitality operations would move to rival outsourcer, Mitie.