Consulting in the GCC

By Edward Haigh

Most consulting firms give fairly short shift to marketing at the best of times. Seen by many as a function whose remit extends as far as producing shiny brochures and organising events, the average marketing department is under-funded, under-staffed and - by my reckoning - misunderstood.

By Jodi Davies

Organisations in the Gulf, we know, have massive agendas for investment but are chronically short of well-educated and experienced people to help realise them.  It’s this coincidence of workload and scarcity that underpins the terrific growth in consulting in the region, increasing by around a fifth in each of the last two years.

The GCC consulting market grew by 20% between 2011 and 2012 and is now worth about $1.9bn*.  That makes it larger than the consulting markets of both Spain ($1.5bn) and Italy ($1.4bn).  In fact, on its current trajectory, it will be bigger than the (far healthier) Nordic consulting market by the end of 2015.

But could it be even bigger?