London: As British banks and insurance companies locate call centres in India, Amicus, the largest UK union, today (Apr 28, 2004) warned it would have a "devastating impact", hurting mostly the same communities that suffered worst from the collapse of manufacturing and asked the Government to set up an inquiry commission to investigate impact of off-shoring.

"The response from Government so far is that it is not their role to dictate how and where companies make their money. There is also a feeling that the off-shoring phenomenon is merely a symptom caused by the UK economy gearing up the 'industrial food chain' to become highly skilled and ideas based," Amicus said in a statement.

"The picture that seems to be emerging is actually very different. What is appearing is a very sophisticated overseas contact centre industry which has the capacity to do almost every job - from face to face contact, acturial, legal and technical support - that is currently done in the UK and at a fraction of the cost," Amicus said.

Amicus, came into being in January 2001 following the merger of Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union and Management, Science and Finance Union.

Stating that the impact could be devastating, "hurting mostly the same communities that suffered worst from the collapse of manufacturing," David Fleming, Amicus National Secretary for Finance said, "unless we take action now, the UK could be left as a nation of 'fat cats and hairdressers with nothing in between'."