FAO service provider Xansa has won preferred supplier status with the BBC for outsourced finance and accounting (F&A) services following a competitive bid against Capita, Infosys BPO, and the current incumbent EDS.
The contract, worth around $160 million over 10 years, will be one of the most prominent F&A deals let to date and will save the BBC in excess of $375 million during the life of the contract. This will be a major contribution to the BBC’s strategy to minimize the cost of its support services and release more money into their creative output.
Working closely with BBC Finance, Xansa will deliver finance and accounting services across the BBC, including purchasing and sales transaction processing, artist and contributor payments, financial management and project accounting, payroll processing, and expenses. As prime contractor, Xansa will also work with Siemens Business Services to provide infrastructure, applications support, and customer service facilities.
Xansa will provide the services from a blend of locations in the U.K. and India. All voice contact will remain in the U.K., with other services including transaction processing to be carried out at Xansa’s F&A shared-service center in Chennai, India.
The new contract is expected to be signed in November, with Xansa taking over responsibility for the services in July 2007.
Commenting on the announcement, Zarin Patel, BBC Group Finance Director, said: “I congratulate Xansa on winning this major contract. The BBC will benefit from Xansa’s proven expertise in managing outsourced finance and accounting services, and we look forward to developing close a relationship with them.”
Alistair Cox, Xansa’s CEO, added: “We are delighted that Xansa has been selected as the preferred partner to deliver F&A services across the BBC. Our expert technology and back office services allows our clients to do more with their own business and we are confident that we will, as the U.K. leader in F&A services, enable the BBC to minimize its administrative costs and to free up funds to invest in its core business of creative programming.”