The chief executive of UK electricals retailer AO World, John Roberts, has blamed the current Labour government’s employee regulations for its decision to outsource 200 call centre roles to South Africa.

The group said it was shifting the majority of call centre jobs overseas “in response to ongoing inflationary cost pressures, and particularly rising employment costs”. It expects the move will save around £4 million a year.

The news comes as it posted a pre-tax profit of £50.5 million in the year to 31 March on Wednesday, a 145 per cent increase year-on-year, and announced £20 in special payments million to shareholders.

Around 150 roles in phone sales and enquires have already been moved from its Bolton location to South Africa over the past 12 to 18 months, with a further 50 expected in future, with roles shifting as UK employees leave rather than through forced redundancies.

Over 100 other roles, handling more complex customer inquiries, will remain in the country. AO said its overall employee numbers fell by 340 to 2,800 during the financial year.

Roberts said the move was necessary to stop price rises for customers, adding: “costs walk into the business on legs and this government keeps making those costs even higher and even less flexible.

“What government is doing is accelerating the cost equation at the same time as technology is accelerating its capability and cost [reduction].”

Roberts also blamed high youth unemployment on “terrible government decisions” which had made it more expensive and risky to hire inexperienced workers, echoing an open letter by the British Retail Consortium earlier in the month.

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