Public sector bouncing back, says Capita

10th May 2011 08:27

Activity in the outsourcing market is picking up after a couple of quiet years, Capita said. The business process outsourcing specialist said its businesses "performed solidly" in the first four months of 2011, with the group enjoying a busy sales period leading to a record bid pipeline.There is a strong list of opportunities waiting in the wings, reflecting the appetite for outsourcing, particularly across the life and pensions and local government markets, Capita said.In the public sector the number of new tenders across the group's areas of expertise is now at the levels enjoyed prior to the May 2010 elections and the public sector spending freeze. The most active public sector markets are local government and the defence market.To date in 2011 the group has signed seven new contracts worth in aggregate £313m. "Our record bid pipeline and buoyant wider sales activity provides us with a good platform for better progress in the second half of the year, with decisions expected on several bids in the bid pipeline in Q3 and Q4 [third and fourth quarters] this year," Capita said."We see the benefits of the operational efficiencies we implemented in 2010 and our increasing scale and capabilities continuing to drive forward our margins in the first half and the year as a whole," the statement concluded. ---jh