New outsourcing provider launches for brokers

Bula Outsourcing is a new business process outsourcing (BPO) provider specifically targeting the broker channel in Australia and New Zealand.

Founded by senior mortgage industry figures Clive Kirkpatrick (formerly of Vow Financial and now Bula’s executive chairman), Aaron Milburn (formerly of Pepper Money and now Bula’s chief operations officer) and Josie Prasad (principal of finance company Astute Hunters Hill and Bula’s chief executive and managing director), Bula Outsourcing offers a range of services, including loan administration, virtual assistance, back-office support and marketing.

The company was first established in July 2021 with 10 employees and has since grown to a team of more than 70 staff members – mostly based in the Fijian capital, Suva.

Speaking at the event, Bula’s executive chairman Mr Kirkpatrick, commented: “To give you some context as to why this is also an important sector to focus upon for Bula Outsourcing and the Fijian BPO community; over 60 per cent of all mortgages in Australia are placed with a lender through a mortgage broker. 

“The Australian mortgage market is approximately five times the size of the Fiji GDP.  So [it is] large. In addition to this, increased regulation has increased the amount of administrative and non customer facing time. 

“This is value diluting in the customer value chain and presents a wonderful opportunity for outsourcing capabilities,” he added, noting that wage inflation means that an increasing number of companies are “searching for new areas of talent to solve for this issue’’. 

“Bula Outsourcing currently focuses on both outsourcing and offshoring arrangements. But seeing how quickly our organisation is growing – thanks to the impeccable services provided by our team and, most importantly, the support from our clients and stakeholders – we are pleased to announce that Bula is now looking to expand further into other sectors and specialised fields locally.”

Bula Outsourcing’s CEO, Ms Prasad, added: “Our mission is simple: to contribute value to our clients’ businesses by providing customised solutions and taking pride in being a centre of excellence.

“We aim to deliver professional services through quality, innovation and expertise. Our vision is to show that we genuinely care, choosing to understand our clients’ needs in order to become better at what we do.”

On delivering his official speech and launching Bula Outsourcing, Prime Minister of Fiji Honorable Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama welcomed the company’s launch and highlighted that Fiji had the right elements for a successful BPO sector, suggesting it was attractive to English-speaking companies as it had a skilled, young, literate English-speaking and tech-savvy workforce.

“We have a stable business environment that has produced consistent strong economic growth through consistent policy making for a nine-year period, prior to the pandemic,’’ he said. 

“Bula Outsourcing began its operations during the pandemic, which surely demonstrates its confidence in Fiji – in our world-class ICT infrastructure, our policies, our competitive business costs, our people and – of course – our attractive tax incentives.

“Our aim is to create an identity for Fiji as a preferred destination for businesses to outsource their services.”

Bula Outsourcing has also committed to “give back to the people of Fiji” through initiatives that will be rolled out in phases over the next few months.

The CEO elaborated that these initiatives would be centred around building communities through sports, employment and education.

According to Ms Prasad, these would include:

• A new Women Empowerment Initiative supporting women in sports through funding, mentorship programs and employment
• A Higher Education Program, which will see Bula partner with local universities to implement an attachment program for students that will see them shadow in-house leaders at Bula Outsourcing
• Healthcare for the elderly

[Related: Clive Kirkpatrick joins FBAA board]