Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has completed the transfer of 470 IT staff, all its IT assets and its third-party contracts back in house from outsourcing supplier Accenture.
The company cancelled its £1.7bn outsourcing contract with Accenture last October at a time when the contract had five years left to run.
Sainsbury’s and the outsourcer have spent the past six months transferring the people, the systems and the contracts with other IT suppliers back to the firm.
In a statement, the supermarket chain said: “Sainsbury’s will take an exceptional item of circa £65m as a result of the termination. As a result of future cost savings, the exit costs are expected to pay back in less than two years.”
The decision to insource was made after an operational review under new chief executive Justin King found that Sainsbury’s would be able to recover more speedily if it regained direct control of its IT systems and staff.
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Sainsbury’s and Accenture successfully transition IT functions back to Sainsbury’s
