The value of consulting – POLITICO

There is too often in today’s media an ill-informed and negative notion of what management consultants do, purported by media commentators with little direct experience of the sector they cover. It is an image of an industry, which offers PowerPoint strategies, worthless advice and ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ support, all for astronomical fees.

The reality of course couldn’t be more different. Modern British consulting is, in fact, a cutting-edge and hugely-competitive sector, which is at the forefront of AI and technological innovation, critical business transformation and driving sustainability improvements. British consultancies are deeply invested in their 10,000^[1] clients, making this global powerhouse the most respected consulting center in the world.

As well as the false perception of what they do, there is also a stereotype of who consultants are. But the idea that the industry is staffed solely by London-based, Oxbridge-educated consultants with little or no experience is completely divorced from reality.

Modern British consultants are, in fact, incredibly diverse. The sector is a leading employer of women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Recruitment of apprentices and school leavers is rising; intake from Russell Group universities is falling. More than 270 regional offices are spread out across the U.K., as is the impact of consultancies’ long-running volunteering programs. Over 70 percent of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) members are SMEs.

The career trajectory has drastically changed, too. As with many careers, long gone are the days when employees stick with the same company for decades on end. Rather than starting out as analysts and, years later, rising to the role of partner, increasing numbers of consultants are moving around between our clients in industry, government and consultancy. The term ‘revolving door’ is often used negatively, but it is through this movement that many consultants sharpen their skills and broaden their expertise and benefit the collective growth of U.K. plc and our public institutions.

It is their specialist skills and expertise that place consultants in such high demand. As the world transitions to net zero and adapts to a future dominated by new technologies like AI, governments and businesses are reaching for trusted advisers, renowned for their deep sector knowledge and breadth of experience. They also look to consultancies as the great convenors of the global economy, able to bring together specialists from across disciplines, often at short notice.

In many ways, this is management consultancy’s moment. We are living in uncertain times, and the capabilities, advice and support provided by consulting firms big and small is invaluable. We are also living at a time when businesses are crying out for talented people to fill their vacancies, and it is the consultancy industry that is investing hugely in skills, training up the bright young sparks from all backgrounds who go on to become the international CIOs, COOs and CEOs of the future.

It is no wonder, then, that the industry which generates £20 billion of revenue is growing at 9 percent per year, outperforming the rest of the U.K. and indeed the U.S. economy in terms of expansion and growth rates.

As the industry’s trade association, the MCA celebrates the people behind these statistics. We champion not only the effect their hard work has on the economy, but the impact they have on our society. Pretty much everyone in the U.K. has benefited from management consultancy; this is, after all, the industry that helped to deliver the world-leading Covid vaccination program and which drove waiting times for breast cancer screenings down by a third.

Yet it is primarily for partnerships with the public sector that management consultancy receives most criticism. There is a view among some that a penny of taxpayers’ money spent on external advice is a penny wasted. The lazy assumption is as far from reality as the false images of consultants and their industry.

For a start, management consultants usually join projects with the express aim of saving money, improving productivity and delivering better outcomes for taxpayer-funded services. Efficiency is their middle name. The biggest vote of confidence in their value comes from the private sector, which makes up 80 percent of consultancies’ work. These clients include Britain’s most successful companies and best-loved brands. Does anyone really believe that these shrewd businesses are being hoodwinked into wasting their money? The truth is they’re more than satisfied with the service they get, which is why clients come back to their consultants, again and again.  

The world is satisfied, too. We don’t hear it very often, but modern British consulting is the second-largest such industry in the world.  From Peru to Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, clients from across the globe keep buying British, whether that is for advice on cybersecurity, or support in their shipping industry. They know they’re getting the best of the best. That reputation is why exports have trebled in recent years. The sale of British services overseas far outstrips that of goods, and consulting forms a large proportion of those services. Some people lament that shift. They say the U.K. doesn’t make anything anymore. But we do. We make businesses more successful. We make government projects happen. We make countries more prosperous. That is the reality of modern British management consulting. It’s time we started shouting about it.