© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
Those across the property sector have for decades outsourced certain functions of their business in order to streamline their internal teams and reap the benefits of lower costs, improved efficiencies, and greater flexibility.
Whether it be bookkeeping and payroll or property maintenance and IT support, this adoption of remote ‘expertise’ became increasingly relied upon during – and since - the Covid pandemic as businesses across the industry were forced to move their operations to a virtual world. And this reliance on outside suppliers is only set to increase, with outsourcing expected to reach almost £22billion in revenue by 2025¹.
The idealism of outsourcing is of course that it will aid your agency’s financial growth by providing your core team with the time and freedom to do what they do best, with the knowledge that the basic functions of the business are being looked after in the background. But, what if this isn’t the case?
Anton Shuttlewood, Founder and CEO of Deskfrnd, believes that outsourcing as we know it is no longer fit for purpose, and that it’s failing to bring the benefits it should to those across the property sector. But, he believes there is a better way - one that brings together the best elements of outsourcing with the best elements of in-house recruitment (and employment) – which is supporting organisations both here in the UK and across the globe to do business better, slicker, and smarter.
“We are now very much in a world where geographical borders are no longer a barrier to how, when, and where business can be done – so the idea of sending certain tasks overseas is certainly a credible one. But, relying on a traditional overseas call centre brings with it an abundance of headaches and risks – primarily a lack of visibility, accountability, and control. Added to this issues associated with language and cultural differences - which can have a potentially devastating impact on your bottom line, and your reputation. And, with a staggering 87% of respondents in a recent survey by the Home Owners Alliance saying that rapport is a key factor in choosing an estate agent²– it’s vital to get it right.
So, what’s the alternative? Headaches of equal severity associated with recruiting and employing staff here in the UK – extortionate overheads, rigid inflexibility, and a whole host of HR-related challenges.
But it shouldn’t have to be this way. Agency owners shouldn’t have to choose between onshoring and outsourcing, but instead should be able to benefit from the flexibility, agility, and dynamism of an overseas team with the expertise, professionalism, and peace of mind of an in-house team. Which is precisely what we’re proud to have engineered.
Our teams of dedicated Deskfrnds operate across the globe, providing back-office support including property admin support, virtual assistants, and helpdesk teams as well as front-facing support to respond to customer queries and complaints, look after outbound sales, and undertake PR and marketing activities. All of our Deskfrnds are proficient English speakers, are absolute experts in what they do, and have the same unwavering commitment to your customers as you do.
We ensure that each Deskfrnd becomes fully engrained in your business from day one, with in-depth product, service, and technical trainings undertaken so that they know your operations inside and out, live and breathe your ethos, and represent you and your brand at all times. And, we look after them day-to-day, with a team of in-country team leaders responsible for full and ongoing management.
Plus, we’ve designed our whole business model to offer the utmost in flexibility, offering support on a permanent, temporary, full or part-time basis. This gives you the ability to dial resource up or down during busier or quieter trading periods ensuring you receive the support you need, when you need it, and giving you the freedom to focus on expanding and scaling your business.
And, we’re absolutely committed to taking care of our teams. Far removed from the common perceptions of overseas call centres where hundreds of individuals are hosted in cramped, generic spaces, we provide high quality, on-brand working environments, exceptional training and development opportunities, and industry-leading rates of pay. Why? Because we know that if we look after our people, they’ll look after yours. Win:win.
With the ongoing effects of the economic downturn and concerns about how this will impact the property market as we move into 2023, along with the continuing challenges facing many agents with regards to attracting and retaining experienced staff – having the right resource in place, at the right time, and at the right cost, is now more crucial than ever before.
By recognising the wealth of opportunities that a borderless environment offers and embracing new and innovative ways of accessing talent from across the globe, only then will businesses reap the very real rewards of smoother processes, happier clients, and a whole load more retention. Whilst significantly reducing both costs and headaches.”
¹Genius Outsourcing Statistics UK (2022)