China, Morocco and Hungary are the new locations of choice for offshore centres

Of the 21 new facilities opened by the UK's 20 largest firms, four were set up in China, three in Eastern Europe and three in Morocco.

Outsourcers are now looking away from India – where only two centres were opened - because of the rising cost of the rupee and increasing staff wages.

BT Global Services, EDS, IBM and TCS have all opened sourcing facilities in China in the last 18 months due to lower costs and a growing market for IT outsourcing in the country.

Eastern Europe and Morocco are considered good locations for such centres because of high skill levels and low labour costs.