Outsourcing

Outsourcing remains a powerful lever for business transformation, but success depends on having robust contracts in place, creating well-structured partnerships, and careful risk management. Our outsourcing lawyers help clients navigate these complex arrangements with confidence, clarity, and commercial insight, bringing legal precision to strategic decisions that shape how modern businesses run.

Clear, actionable advice

From IT infrastructure and cloud-based services to logistics, facilities management and customer support, outsourcing touches almost every part of today’s enterprise. We support clients throughout the full outsourcing lifecycle — whether you are preparing a tender, entering a long-term strategic deal, or navigating renegotiation or exit. We understand the commercial pressures on both customers and service providers and offer clear, actionable legal advice that reflects broader business aims.

Our outsourcing group gives you access to an experienced team of lawyers with all the specialist knowledge necessary for the successful implementation and operation of outsourcing transactions. We have in-depth experience in structuring, documenting, negotiating and managing complex and large-scale outsourcing arrangements.

Our team regularly advises clients on the design and implementation of outsourcing agreements, from statements of work and technical specifications to KPIs, service levels, pricing frameworks and technology refresh provisions. We structure compliant and commercially-aligned contracts that give clients the clarity and flexibility they need.

Our expertise extends to complex project management structures, contingency planning and risk mitigation. We help clients develop governance frameworks, build in benchmarking and audit rights, and ensure contracts support operational resilience, from data security and disaster recovery through to disengagement and dispute resolution. Our lawyers work closely with colleagues in employment, data, regulatory and litigation to provide clients with an integrated legal service across the outsourcing landscape, including TUPE transfers, compliance obligations, exit management and disputes.

What we particularly appreciate about Penningtons is their excellent and rapid work and their high level of understanding of the context of issues.

We pride ourselves on taking the initiative, assisting clients on many different levels in order to support and complement their own in-house project teams. Our principal aim is to help organisations put in place practical, durable and effective business relationships that reflect a reasonable balance of responsibility, risk and reward.

With experience acting for public and private sector clients, both in the UK and internationally, we bring a dual perspective, supporting customers and suppliers alike. Whether you’re looking to scale, streamline, or innovate, our focus is on helping you deliver outsourcing relationships that perform in practice, not just on paper.

How we help our clients

Tender preparation and bidder support

Developing statements of work and technical specifications

Process mapping, system acceptance testing and delivery documents

Contract and project management structures, pricing regimes and technology refresh solutions

Drafting service level arrangements, KPI mechanics and service credit regimes

Solutions-based remedies

Business contingency planning regimes, including data security, hosting and disaster recovery

Benchmarking and audit rights

Exit management strategies and disengagement

Dispute resolution and litigation in the context of outsourcing projects

Recognised for its prowess across a full range of matters, including structuring and negotiating complex technology transactions, artificial intelligence projects, high-tech manufacturing agreements and work among novel and emerging technologies.

Penningtons Manches Cooper’s IT team is brilliant, reliable and responsive. The quality of service is outstanding.

Sources also praise the firm’s practice in IT and telecommunications matters, including outsourcing and software licensing.

Recent work highlights

Integration of outsourced services

Advising a German-based full-service bank operating in 25 EU countries on the integration of its outsourced AML screening and monitoring services with its new core banking system, including negotiating the outsourcing agreement with its service provider and ensuring tool compatibility.

Complex IT infrastructure framework

Assisting an international IT service provider and consultancy with an outsourcing agreement for full-service IT support, including building data centres, which involved a complex, long-term framework agreement.

Data management agreements

Advising GS1 UK on the appointment of Syndigo to enhance its productDNA data management and sharing service, including advice on outsourcing and collaboration agreements.

Financial services outsourcing agreement

Drafting a bespoke outsourcing agreement for a client operating in the financial services sector, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations and operational resilience requirements.

Payment device manufacturing

Advising a leading provider of secure electronic payment solutions across the retail, hospitality, financial, government and healthcare sectors on a major project involving the outsourcing of payment card device manufacturing to a Chinese supplier.

Business strategy and employment

Advising a global science and technology leader on employment matters which relate to wider business planning and strategy, including the outsourcing of IT and other contractual issues.

Data services support arrangement

Acting for an international data service provider in its outsourcing arrangements with a financial services organisation where it provides various transfer agency, record keeping and back-office support functions.

Mail processing services

Representing an international publisher on the outsourcing of its mail processing and sorting division.

Cross-border network management

Advising a Belgium-based IT services provider on an outsourcing contract under which it was appointed to manage network service and support for a UK broadband provider.

Data services support arrangement

Mail processing services

Representing an international publisher on the outsourcing of its mail processing and sorting division.

Cross-border network management

Advising a Belgium-based IT services provider on an outsourcing contract under which it was appointed to manage network service and support for a UK broadband provider.