Business model

We know how big the UK consulting market is.  We know what’s grown and what hasn’t.  We even know which firms are doing well – and which aren’t.  So what?  If the last five years have taught consulting firms anything, it’s that the past is no guide to the future.  If you want to know what’s going to happen, you need client data.

Which is why we’ve spent the last few months asking more than 100 senior executives in UK multinationals about how their use of consultants may change in the future.

By Fiona Czerniawska

It’s not just a question of glamour (‘consultant’ sounds so much more upmarket, as any hair or sales consultant will tell you), but hard cash: consultants can charge more than contractors.

By Fiona Czerniawksa

Procurement is something of a dirty word for many consulting firms.  Procurement is what gets in the way of client relationships; it introduced bureaucracy and brings down prices.  (And, of course, such criticism is ironic: consultants helped pioneer the introduction of more formal and rigorous purchasing methods into organisations so shouldn’t have been surprised when the weapons they provided were turned back on them.)