Running a business in the UK in 2025 is rewarding, but undeniably expensive. The National Minimum Wage rose to £12.21 an hour this April, average wages are climbing by nearly 5% a year, and inflation remains close to 4%. For business owners, that translates into higher payroll bills, pricier suppliers, and tighter margins. None of this means you should stop hiring locally, after all, certain roles benefit from in-person presence and proximity. But it does mean you have to be more creative about where and how you invest in people.
On one hand, you want the best people in key roles, often that means hiring locally for positions where in-person presence or market knowledge is vital. On the other hand, you may also be looking at roles that don’t necessarily need to sit in your office or come with the full overhead of a local hire.
For companies looking for a way to make this balance happen, offshore staffing has become a practical solution. Rather than an “either/or” choice, it gives businesses a chance to scale effectively. Businesses have a chance to bring in high-quality talent at a lower cost for certain job functions, while still investing in the local team.
A win-win situation.
In today’s article, we are going to explain why offshore hiring is worth considering this year, and how it can support your business without compromising on growth or standards.
The Cost of Local Hiring in The UK
For growing businesses in the UK and EU, hiring the right talent has become increasingly expensive. Salaries, and benefits alone are rising steadily, putting pressure on companies that need to scale efficiently.
In the UK, average weekly earnings increased by 4.8% over the past year, with real-term growth at just 0.7% after adjusting for inflation.
Meanwhile, across the EU, average hourly labour costs reached €33.5 in 2024, representing a 5.1% increase from the previous year. These numbers illustrate a clear trend, attracting and retaining skilled employees is becoming significantly costlier by the year.
The true cost of hiring goes far beyond base salaries. Recruiting a new employee involves advertising, interviewing, and managing the onboarding process, while training and managing turnover add further expenses. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Insight Global, the total cost to hire a new employee can reach three to four times the position’s salary, with roughly 60% of that total attributed to “soft costs” such as lost productivity, and management time.
For businesses working with tight margins, these hidden costs can make local hiring a significant financial challenge.
Why Offshore Hiring Saves Money
Growing your team doesn’t have to mean growing your expenses. Hiring locally can quickly become a financial strain to your business. You have to think of salaries, benefits, office space, and equipment.
Offshore hiring offers a smarter, more cost-effective approach, allowing you to access skilled professionals without overspending your budget. Here’s how offshore hiring can save your business money;
Lower Labour Costs
Offshore hiring often provides highly skilled professionals at a fraction of local salaries. For instance, a mid-level marketing professional in the UK may cost £40,000–£50,000 per year, while an equally skilled offshore hire could cost just £15,000–£25,000 annually. That’s a potential saving of £20,000+ per hire every year, freeing up funds to reinvest in growth initiatives such as marketing, product development, or client acquisition.
Lower Operational Costs
Operational costs also drop significantly with offshore teams. Hiring locally often comes with additional overheads such as office space, utilities, equipment, and employee benefits. Offshore talent work remotely from fully equipped home offices, eliminating these extra expenses. For a small business, this reduction in operational costs can add up to thousands of pounds per month, making team expansion far more affordable.
Flexibility in Scaling Team
Scaling a local team requires time, budget, and administrative work, from recruiting and training to managing contracts and benefits. Offshore hiring allows businesses to ramp teams up, or scale down, quickly based on current projects or seasonal demand. This flexibility is particularly valuable for startups or small businesses, where cash flow and resources are tight.
Consider a practical example, a small UK digital agency hired two offshore designers instead of expanding locally. The agency saved over £40,000 in combined salaries and overhead in the first year alone. The savings didn’t just improve cash flow, they also allowed the agency to invest in client acquisition, boosting overall revenue without increasing financial strain.
Quality vs Cost: Addressing the Misconceptions
A common concern about offshore hiring is the assumption that lower costs mean lower quality. Many business owners worry that outsourcing roles abroad will result in subpar work, communication challenges, or missed deadlines. The reality is very different.
Offshore markets, especially in countries like the Philippines, and Nigeria, are home to highly skilled professionals in fields such as marketing, graphic design, IT, and administration.
At Arwana, we’ve had the privilege of helping businesses across the UK hire for a wide range of industries. Our clients consistently report high-quality results from the professionals we source, and many have returned for repeat hires or recommended our services to other businesses. This track record demonstrates that affordable offshore talent can deliver the same, if not better, quality than local hires.
Whether it’s a digital agency looking for designers or a startup needing administrative support. A way to achieve success is by working with a trusted partner that carefully vets talent. With Arwana, you get a team of professionals who are not only skilled but reliable, experienced, and ready to help your business grow.
Offshore Roles That Maximise ROI
Certain roles offer businesses the highest return when hired offshore, delivering significant cost savings while freeing founders to focus on growth. At Arwana, we help UK businesses hire skilled professionals across Admin, Marketing, Design, and IT, helping teams scale efficiently and ROI is maximised.
Administrative Support
Every growing business needs strong administrative support. Roles like Virtual Assistants, Executive Assistants, and Administrative Assistants help take on repetitive tasks that founders or senior team members might otherwise handle themselves. By outsourcing these functions offshore through Arwana, businesses free up key team members to focus on what matters most, growing the business, while keeping operations running properly.
Marketing Role
Marketing is an essential part of every growing business and should never be overlooked. Offshore marketing roles, such as Paid Ad Specialists, Account Managers, Marketing Assistants, and Digital Marketing Executives, have helped businesses scale efficiently. At Arwana, marketing roles are among our best-selling hires, and we’ve helped multiple UK businesses build campaigns, manage leads, and increase sales, all without the high local salary burden. Offshore marketing helps maximise ROI by allowing businesses to grow revenue while keeping costs manageable.
Design Role
Design is another area where offshore talent delivers exceptional value. We’ve hired Graphic Designers and UI/UX Designers for several clients, producing high-quality, visually compelling work at a fraction of local costs. Hiring design talent through Arwana ensures businesses gain professionals who understand their craft, deliver creative compelling work, and help strengthen the brand’s presence, making every project reflect quality and creativity.
Technical Role
IT roles are among the most expensive to hire locally. Recently, Arwana has successfully placed Developer and Full-Stack roles for UK businesses. Offshore IT professionals allow companies to maintain full-time technical expertise on their teams while significantly reducing labour costs. This approach ensures projects stay on track and systems run perfectly without downtime.
Long-Term Advantages of Offshore Hiring
While cost savings are the immediate benefit of offshore hiring, the long-term advantages can have an even greater impact on business growth. One of the most valuable outcomes is retention and loyalty. Offshore professionals, when sourced through trusted partners like Arwana, are carefully matched to roles that suit their skills and experience. This alignment deepens commitment, resulting in team members who are motivated, and more likely to stay long-term, reducing turnover and the associated recruitment costs.
Access to global talent also brings fresh perspectives to your business. For example, through our work sourcing and vetting professionals from Nigeria, we’ve identified highly skilled individuals in marketing, design, IT, administration, and executive support. Nigerian professionals bring strong educational backgrounds, industry experience, and English proficiency, making them ideal offshore hires. Our article explains why Nigeria is a great place to hire from, highlights how businesses can benefit from this talent.
Furthermore, offshore hiring allows smaller businesses to compete with bigger companies without spending a fortune. By hiring vetted offshore professionals, businesses get the same skills and expertise as larger competitors but at a much lower cost. Startups and growing teams can complete important projects without the high local salaries.
Practical Steps to Start Offshore Hiring
Starting with offshore hiring may feel like a lot, researching and all, but with the right approach, it can be simple and highly effective. The first step is to identify which roles in your business will benefit most from offshore support. Common areas include admin support, marketing, design, and IT—tasks that are essential but often time-consuming or costly locally.
Next, choose a reliable partner who can source and vet professionals thoroughly. At Arwana, we match candidates to your business needs, ensuring they have the skills, experience, and work ethic to deliver results. We also offer flexible hiring options, with both part-time and full-time roles starting from £699 per month. Our recent article explains which option is right for your business, helping you make an informed decision.
It’s wise to start small, bringing on one or two offshore team members in a trial capacity. This allows you to test communication, and workflow without committing to a large-scale hire immediately.
Once you’re confident in the process and the quality of the talent, you can scale your team to support multiple functions, freeing your core team to focus on growth.
With Arwana guiding you through sourcing, vetting, and onboarding, businesses can hire offshore professionals safely, and turn cost savings into long-term growth.
Conclusion
Hiring locally can be expensive, especially when your team is growing. Offshore hiring gives you a smarter way to scale your business. It saves money, gives you access to skilled professionals in admin, marketing, design, and IT, and frees your team to focus on growing the business.
With the right partner, you get quality talent that takes your businesses as seriously as you take it or even more.
At Arwana, we source and vet professionals to make sure you get the right fit. We offer part-time and full-time options starting from £699 per month, so you can start small and scale as needed.
Book a call today to see how much your business could save by hiring offshore with Arwana and start building a stronger, more cost-effective team.
