Outsourcing customer service to nearshore locations has become a preferred strategy for European companies seeking a balance between cost and quality. This involves partnering with BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing) located in nearby countries or those with cultural/linguistic affinity, instead of far-off offshoring. In 2025, two trends shape Europe: on one hand, companies from the UK, Germany, France, etc., are moving contact centers to Eastern or Southern Europe (regional nearshore); on the other, Iberian companies are turning to Latin America as a "linguistic nearshore" for Spanish-language service. The result is a dynamic and multicultural BPO market. In fact, Europe accounts for 26% of the global contact center market, leading in multilingual support (globalgrowthinsights.com). Below, we explore some of the best nearshore BPOs for customer service focused on Europe, highlighting providers with strategic presence, wide language coverage, and CX expertise.

What Is Considered Nearshore in Europe?

First, let's define nearshore. For a European company, nearshore typically means outsourcing to a geographically or culturally close country that offers cost advantages. For example, for Western European firms, Eastern Europe (Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria) is nearshore: same or similar time zones, a large pool of multilingual talent, and lower labor costs compared to the UK/Germany/France. Southern Europe (Portugal, Greece) has also become a nearshore hub for customer service, especially for English, French, and other language markets, thanks to its mid-range cost and skilled workforce.

In Spain's case, the nearshore concept sometimes includes Latin America, due to the shared language and moderate time difference (5-7 hours). Indeed, for Spanish-language support, countries like Colombia and Peru have become a "natural extension" of Spanish contact centers, hosting 90% of Spanish agents working abroad (asociacioncex.org). Though geographically distant, they are culturally aligned, making them closer to nearshore than traditional offshore (e.g., Asia).

Why nearshore? It offers the optimal trade-off: agent costs drop significantly compared to the home country (20–50% savings depending on the destination), while maintaining strong language quality, manageable time zones, and easier management (traveling there is simpler than to Asia, for instance). For multilingual support, nearshore combinations are indispensable: a single hub in, say, Lisbon or Budapest can handle 5–10 European languages at high quality, something unfeasible to consolidate in-house for many companies.

Advantages of European Nearshore BPOs

Nearshore BPOs in Europe (and adjacent regions) offer specific advantages:

• Multilingualism: They excel at recruiting agents from diverse nationalities. For example, a center in Krakow can assemble teams to serve German, English, French, Italian, and Spanish customers. This is valuable for pan-European companies preferring one partner for the region rather than multiple country-specific vendors. Eastern Europe and parts of the Mediterranean are known for their multilingual talent pools (many young professionals with university education and polyglot skills).

• Cultural and business proximity: Unlike an Asian call center, a European nearshore center better understands cultural nuances, regulations, and customer expectations from Western Europe. Being in the EU (if applicable) also means adhering to the same regulations (GDPR, labor standards), offering peace of mind. In Latin America, service values and tone align closely with Spain; a Spanish customer will rarely notice they are being served from Bogotá if the agent is well-trained.

• Time zone and logistics: Nearshore ensures overlapping work hours. A center in Eastern Europe is one hour ahead of Spain, easily covering 9 to 6 Spain time. They can also provide extended service into evenings with their own shift. Travel for training or audits is manageable (2–3-hour flights within Europe or 8–10 hours to LatAm), making outsourcing management feasible budget-wise.

• Optimized but not "lowest" costs: Nearshore destinations usually offer mid-range costs. For instance, call center rates in Romania or Poland in 2025 are around $12–$15/hour for inbound services (worldwidecallcenters.com), well below the 30+ €/hour in Western Europe but more than India. Many companies accept paying more than the global minimum in exchange for better quality and communication ease. It’s a balance of efficiency and excellence.

• Industry specialization: Several European nearshore BPOs have specialized centers by vertical. Some hubs focus on ecommerce and retail (e.g., providers in Portugal or Greece handle many online sales accounts), others on tech/SaaS with more technical agents in Eastern Europe, or centers in Morocco/Tunisia focused on French-language telco support. This concentration of industry know-how boosts quality.

Cont

Here are five of the top BPOs specializing in nearshore customer service for Europe, based on geographic reach, capabilities, and reputation:

Concentrix – Headquartered in France, Webhelp operates in over 50 countries and is a benchmark in multilingual customer service. In Europe, it has strong nearshore hubs: Lisbon serves English and German markets; Eastern Europe (Romania, Poland) supports multiple languages; North Africa (Morocco) serves French markets. Webhelp is known for its tech-driven approach and innovative CX culture. It holds contracts with major tech firms and unicorn startups across EMEA. Their ability to recruit diverse talent and scale fast makes them a leader in this segment.

Teleperformance – The world’s largest CX provider, also from France, with over 420,000 global employees. In Europe, it has vast nearshore operations: Portugal, Greece, Albania, Egypt, etc., covering dozens of European languages. Teleperformance is often chosen by large enterprises needing high agent volumes and 24/7 coverage across countries. It excels in standardized processes, rapid ramp-ups, and strict SLA compliance. Its Lisbon hub employs thousands of agents for e-commerce and gaming brands. Though less flexible for smaller clients, it’s a safe bet for large-scale nearshore projects. They also provide with a more flexible solution tied to startups needs with their partnership with the AI Contact Center Minute Call.

Konecta – After merging, the Spanish-Italian Konecta-Comdata group boasts a strong global footprint, especially in Europe and Latin America. As a BPO from the Iberian world, it deeply understands both European and Latin markets. Key nearshore hubs include Eastern Europe and LatAm for Spanish services. Konecta excels in banking, telecom, and utilities, with experience scaling those services for midsize and large clients. Spanish firms benefit from their LatAm platforms (Colombia, Peru) with built-in cultural alignment. For broader European markets, they combine local presence in Italy, France, UK with lower-cost centers in Morocco or Eastern Europe. Post-merger, they’ve also strengthened their digital transformation capabilities (bots, automation).

Majorel – Born from the merger of Germany’s Arvato and Morocco’s Saham, Majorel positions itself as a customer experience specialist with European DNA and global scale. It has nearshore hubs in Eastern Europe (Georgia, Romania, Poland), Africa (Ivory Coast, Senegal for French), and the Middle East. Majorel grew supporting large tech clients (social networks, marketplaces) with high compliance needs. It’s known for expertise in content moderation and tech support, alongside consumer service. In Spain, it inherited Arvato’s operations serving retail/ecommerce, giving it local insights. Its rigorous quality processes and regional presence make it a solid nearshore choice.

Atento – Though mainly associated with Spain and Latin America, Atento deserves mention for nearshore relevance in Spanish-speaking services. Spanish companies often treat LatAm as nearshore, and Atento leads this space with thousands of agents across Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Central America. It has also expanded into the US and EMEA via Morocco (for Spanish/French service to Europe). In 2025, Atento is noted for integrating AI into operations, with its own AI Studio (atento.com). It builds hybrid models for Spanish firms: part of the team in Spain, part in LatAm, with local supervisors ensuring quality. Frost & Sullivan named it LatAm CX leader in 2025, making it a trusted choice for Spanish or US firms seeking high-quality Spanish service at lower cost.

Nearshore vs Offshore: Quality as Priority

When evaluating these top nearshore BPOs, it's important to highlight that service quality can match or exceed that of the home country. We’re no longer in an era where "outsourced" meant incomprehensible accents or undertrained agents. European nearshore centers now operate to very high standards, in part due to strict contractual expectations. Cultural proximity keeps end-user satisfaction high. Many companies report stable or improved NPS and CES after moving nearshore, thanks to longer hours and faster responses enabled by larger teams at the same budget.

Success, however, hinges on choosing the right partner (with experience in your target market) and carefully managing the transition (training, knowledge transfer). Once live, the operational gains are clear. As noted in Minute Call’s report, outsourcing CX combined with omnichannel and AI strategies acts as an equalizer for small and mid-sized firms, letting them offer premium service via specialized partners (minute-call.com). Nearshore BPOs are core to this strategy, delivering operational scale many companies couldn’t afford in-house.

In 2025, the best nearshore BPOs in Europe – like those above – are true strategic allies. They offer not just savings but best-practice expertise, top-tier tech infrastructure, and the ability to scale quickly. Europe’s diversity of languages and high CX standards have shaped these elite providers. If your company plans to expand or optimize customer support, looking to European nearshore (either within Europe or culturally-aligned nearby regions) is nearly a must. With the right partner, you get the best of both worlds: the service quality your customers expect and the operational efficiency your bottom line needs.