How Charles Hope International Scaled From Zero to 21 Offshore Team Members in Cape Town

How Did Charles Hope International Scale From Zero to 21 Offshore Team Members in Just Over a Year?

When a fast-growing serviced apartments business needed to overcome post-Brexit talent shortages across customer services, finance, sales and marketing, it turned to strategic offshoring in Cape Town. Within just over 12 months, Charles Hope International grew from zero offshore presence to a fully integrated team of 21 people. This is how we designed, built and embedded that team.

Charles Hope International is a global real estate business specialising in serviced apartments, founded in 2016 and focused on exceptional customer experience and stylish accommodation. Under CEO Richard Maurin, the business has grown quickly and expanded its operations internationally.

This case study examines the workforce challenges that prompted Charles Hope to explore offshoring, why we were selected as the strategic partner, and what other hospitality businesses can learn from the results.

What Challenge Was Charles Hope Facing?

Charles Hope was growing quickly but finding it hard to recruit, which threatened its ability to scale. A smaller UK talent pool after Brexit and slow recruitment were holding back the roles it needed most: customer service, finance, marketing and sales.

The challenges were not unique to Charles Hope. In 2023, UKHospitality reported 132,000 unfilled vacancies across the sector, 48% above pre-pandemic levels.

For Charles Hope specifically, the pain points included:

• Slow recruitment cycles: Critical roles in customer services, finance and marketing were taking months to fill in the UK, slowing the company's ability to service its growing portfolio.
• Shrinking talent pool: Post-Brexit changes reduced the pool of skilled applicants for the roles Charles Hope needed.
• Scaling pressure: Demand was strong but operational capacity was limited, and without more capacity the business risked slowing growth and delaying new projects.
• Multi-department need: This was not a single-function problem. Charles Hope needed to scale customer services, finance, sales and marketing simultaneously, which made traditional UK-only recruitment even more difficult to execute at pace.

The question for Richard Maurin and his leadership team was straightforward: how do you build multiple high-performing teams quickly when the domestic labour market cannot supply the talent?

Why Did Charles Hope Choose Us?

Richard Maurin approached us to discuss how a strategic offshoring strategy could help Charles Hope scale. We are a strategic consulting partner that designs, builds and embeds offshore teams as genuine extensions of the client's business, rather than a BPO provider or a recruitment agency.

Several factors set our approach apart:

Proven track record at scale. Our founders scaled EnergyQuote JHA to more than 300 people with about 60% offshore, and the offshore model saved it over £20 million over nine years before its acquisition by Accenture in 2015. That is operational experience of building, managing and scaling international teams through to a successful exit.

The embedded HRBP model. Unlike traditional outsourcing arrangements where staff sit within the provider's infrastructure, the Embedded Offshore Team Model puts a dedicated Human Resources Business Partner within the offshore team. This HRBP manages onboarding, performance reviews, career development, wellbeing and retention, so offshore staff feel genuinely part of the client's company rather than third-party contractors.

A multi-hub model with strategic flexibility. We operate five hubs in four countries: Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa), Iași (Romania), Bengaluru (India) and São Paulo (Brazil). Each location offers different strengths for different functions. For Charles Hope's needs, Cape Town's deep talent pool, strong English, cultural alignment with the UK and overlapping time zone made it the right choice, and the wider network leaves room to scale into other hubs later.

"Human led, high control" philosophy. Our approach centres on maintaining direct control over team quality, culture and output. This aligned with Charles Hope's service standards: each hire was selected for technical capability and for alignment with its culture and standards.

Charles Hope approached offshoring as a strategic growth initiative rather than a cost-saving exercise, and we built the team on that basis.

Why Is Cape Town the Ideal Location for Offshore Customer Service Teams?

Cape Town is a well-established destination for offshore customer service operations, and the data supports that.

According to the Western Cape Government, the province captures 60% of South Africa's business process outsourcing market, with the sector valued at USD 1.9 billion in 2024. CapeBPO reports a Western Cape sector headcount of around 67,000, more than 60,000 of them in seats serving international clients. In the 2023/24 financial year alone, 10,470 net new jobs were created in the sector, signalling a mature and expanding talent ecosystem.

For a hospitality operator like Charles Hope, where guest experience is the product, the quality of customer interaction is paramount. Cape Town's deep pool of English-speaking talent familiar with the UK market, strong cultural alignment with the UK, and a time zone that allows same-day collaboration made it the natural choice, and service consistency and responsiveness improved for Charles Hope.

How Was the Offshore Team Built and Integrated?

Our approach to building the Charles Hope offshore team followed our four-stage method, refined over years of scaling operations across multiple geographies and industries. It is a consulting-led framework rather than a recruitment-led process, treating each offshore function as a strategic business unit.

The result was a team of 21 people across five functions in just over 12 months. Each team member was embedded within Charles Hope's organisational structure, reporting into its management and working to its brand standards, while we handled employment and HR locally.

This distinction matters. When a guest contacts Charles Hope for a booking enquiry or a service request, the Cape Town team member responds as part of the Charles Hope team, with full knowledge of the brand, the properties and the guest experience expectations. There is no handoff to a third party, no script-reading from a call centre, and no dilution of the service promise.

What Results Did Charles Hope Achieve?

The results of Charles Hope's partnership with us demonstrate what is possible when offshoring is treated as a strategic initiative rather than a cost-cutting exercise.

Rapid scaling across multiple departments. Charles Hope went from zero offshore presence to 21 team members in just over one year. The team spanned five distinct functions: marketing, guest services, customer services, finance and sales. Building equivalent capacity in the UK at that pace would have been extraordinarily difficult, with UKHospitality reporting 132,000 unfilled vacancies across the sector in 2023.

Significant cost efficiency. The offshore model delivered cost savings that freed investment for growth and development. In our experience, labour cost savings in Cape Town typically run at 30 to 50% against the UK.

Cultural transformation. Perhaps the most significant, and least expected, outcome was the impact on company culture. Richard Maurin described the cultural shift as "phenomenal", noting that the presence of international team members brought broader perspectives, renewed energy and a sense of being part of a larger, global enterprise. This cultural benefit extended to the UK team as well, creating a virtuous cycle of motivation and performance.

Maintained service quality. Guest experience is Charles Hope's product, so any drop in standards would have been unacceptable. The embedded model meant Cape Town team members were trained, managed and held accountable to the same standards as their UK counterparts, and service consistency and responsiveness improved.

Operational resilience. By distributing capacity across UK and South African time zones, Charles Hope gained operational depth. With Cape Town one hour ahead of the UK in summer and two in winter, a 9 to 6 day there runs from 8am to 5pm UK time in summer and 7am to 4pm in winter, so the team can pick up early-morning guest enquiries before the UK office opens. For UK evening cover, our São Paulo hub works 1pm to 10pm UK time in summer and 12pm to 9pm in winter; anything beyond that is agreed with you case by case.

Why Is Now the Right Time for Hospitality Companies to Consider Offshore Teams?

The UK hospitality sector is facing a structural workforce challenge that shows no signs of resolving through domestic recruitment alone. The numbers are stark: in 2023, UKHospitality reported 132,000 unfilled positions, 48% above pre-pandemic levels. Vacancies eased later that year, but ONS figures reported by UKHospitality still showed 112,000 at the end of 2023, against 89,000 before the pandemic.

At the same time, the UK serviced apartments market is growing rapidly. Grand View Research values it at USD 4.49 billion in 2025 and projects growth of 8.8% a year to USD 8.82 billion by 2033. For operators like Charles Hope, this creates a dual pressure: rising demand for services and a diminishing pool of talent to deliver them.

In our experience, labour cost savings in Cape Town and Johannesburg typically run at 30 to 50% against the UK, but the financial argument alone does not capture the full value proposition. The real advantage is access to a deep, growing talent pool in locations like Cape Town, where the business process outsourcing sector is expanding, South Africa's English proficiency is rated "Very High" on the EF Index, and the workforce is young, motivated and career-oriented.

Companies that delay risk falling further behind: as more UK businesses build teams in Cape Town, competition for the best candidates will intensify.

What Lessons Can Other Hospitality Businesses Learn?

Charles Hope's experience offers several practical takeaways for hospitality operators considering offshore team building.

1. Choose a strategic partner, not a provider. The difference between our approach and traditional outsourcing is the difference between building a team and renting one. Our embedded HRBP model, multi-hub flexibility and consulting-led method are designed to deliver what a standard staffing arrangement cannot. Look for a partner with operational experience at scale as well as recruitment capability.

2. Think beyond customer service. Charles Hope's offshore team spans five departments. While customer service is often the entry point for offshoring, the model works for finance, marketing and sales functions too; we compare our hubs for client-facing work in the best offshore location for a sales and marketing team. A narrow view of offshoring as "call centre work" misses the broader opportunity.

3. Invest in culture from day one. Richard Maurin's comments about the cultural transformation within Charles Hope underscore a critical point: offshore teams are part of the business. When treated as genuine team members, with proper onboarding, career development and cultural integration, offshore staff become a source of competitive advantage rather than a cost line.

4. Use time zone proximity as an operational advantage. Cape Town is one hour ahead of the UK in summer and two in winter, so a 9 to 6 day there runs from 8am to 5pm UK time in summer and 7am to 4pm in winter. That gives UK hospitality businesses same-day collaboration without asynchronous handoffs. This is particularly valuable in hospitality, where guest queries and booking requests demand responsive, real-time service.

5. Move early. The Western Cape's business process outsourcing sector created 10,470 net new jobs in the 2023/24 financial year alone, so competition for good candidates is real. The talent pool is deep but not infinite, and planning early gives you more choice.

FAQs

What is hospitality offshoring?

Hospitality offshoring is the practice of building dedicated teams in international locations to support hotel, serviced apartment or accommodation operations. Unlike traditional outsourcing, where tasks are handed to a third-party provider, strategic offshoring involves creating embedded teams that work directly within the hospitality company's structure, use its systems and uphold its brand standards. These teams can cover customer services, reservations, finance, marketing, sales and guest support functions. The goal is to access high-quality talent in markets where skilled, English-speaking professionals are readily available and highly motivated, as well as to reduce costs.

How much can hospitality businesses save by offshoring customer service to Cape Town?

In our experience, labour cost savings typically run at 30 to 50% against the UK in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Pricing is agreed with each client, and we model the cost role by role before any hire is made. Quality offshoring needs investment in onboarding, management and cultural integration, so the cheapest option is rarely the best one.

How does the time zone difference between Cape Town and the UK affect service delivery?

Cape Town operates at GMT+2, one hour ahead of the UK during British Summer Time and two hours ahead in winter, so a 9 to 6 day there runs from 8am to 5pm UK time in summer and 7am to 4pm in winter. That gives seven or more hours of shared working time a day, making real-time collaboration, team meetings and live guest support practical. Cape Town teams can handle morning guest enquiries before UK offices open; for UK evening cover, our São Paulo hub works 1pm to 10pm UK time in summer and 12pm to 9pm in winter, and anything beyond that is agreed with you case by case.

What is the difference between an embedded offshore team and a traditional BPO arrangement?

In a traditional BPO arrangement, the provider recruits and manages the staff and delivers an agreed service, and in shared-service models the same people may work across several client accounts. An embedded model, such as the one we deliver, works differently. Each team member is recruited specifically for the client, works exclusively on that client's operations and sits within the client's management structure. We also embed a dedicated HRBP who handles ongoing performance management, career development and team wellbeing. The result is a team that functions as a genuine extension of the client's business rather than a separate entity managed at arm's length. For the difference between this and an employer of record, see employer of record vs embedded offshore team.

How long does it take to build an offshore team in Cape Town?

Timelines vary depending on the number of roles, the complexity of the functions and the client's readiness to onboard new team members. Charles Hope International grew from zero to 21 people in just over 12 months across five departments. Hiring typically takes four to six weeks in Cape Town, from starting the search to the candidate accepting the offer, against six to twelve weeks or longer in the UK; allow for notice periods and onboarding on top. Our established presence in Cape Town, combined with our structured method covering strategic assessment, talent acquisition, onboarding and continuous performance management, allows for a faster ramp-up than building an offshore operation independently.

Can offshoring work for hospitality functions beyond customer service?

Yes. Charles Hope's experience demonstrates that offshoring can work effectively across marketing, guest services, customer services, finance and sales. The key factors are the quality of the partner and the rigour of the integration process. Our five hubs in four countries (Cape Town and Johannesburg, Iași, Bengaluru and São Paulo) mean that different functions can be placed in the location best suited to their requirements. For example, a hospitality company might base its customer services and marketing in Cape Town for the English proficiency and time zone alignment, while placing certain technology or data functions in another hub where those specific skills are most concentrated.

Sources: UK serviced apartments market data from Grand View Research; UK hospitality vacancy statistics from UKHospitality (2023) and ONS figures reported by UKHospitality (January 2024); Western Cape business process outsourcing data from CapeBPO (2024 Key Insights Report) and the Western Cape Government sector factsheet (August 2025); English proficiency data from the EF English Proficiency Index 2025.