Consultancy News - who's hiring? - who's cutting pay? - BCG and football - Asia activity...and more in Don Leslie's latest newletter

I scour the internet for news about the consultancy sector so that you don’t have to. Here are the nuggets I’ve collected over the last few weeks… In my webinars on how to find job opportunities in consultancy, I talk about using news items which could indicate which firms will be hiring soon. These include announcements of new partner or director appointments, new office openings, acquisition of another consultancy or the launch of a new division. My advice is not to wait for job advertisements to appear, but to be proactive and approach firms directly.

BAME leaders in consulting - Deloitte reverses pandemic paycut - McKinsey, tax and me -  new boss at OC&C - BCG and football - TCS’s €1 acquisition - Asia news - PE’s favoured consultancies - green consulting growing – rebranding

The digital marketing and design service line of Elixirr has increased by another 50 consultants with the acquisition of Coast Digital in the UK. https://tinyurl.com/y6byo7ov Elixirr, which is a listed company in the UK, has offices in the US, South Africa and Australia. Its website https://tinyurl.com/y53yy98t says it is currently hiring Analysts and Consultants for New York, San Francisco, Dallas and London

Sell-offs and salary reductions:

·       Will KPMG go where Deloitte fears to tread? The latter’s rumoured plan to sell its UK Restructuring practice was halted by Deloitte Global. Now KPMG UK is weighing up the options. Restructuring is booming thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, so a handsome price could be had. https://tinyurl.com/y399retd Which might be opportune, given that KPMG partners are facing a pay cut – 25%, according to Sky News. https://tinyurl.com/y27avuss Restructuring sits within Deal Advisory: KPMG UK has announced nine new partners there. https://tinyurl.com/y6yyq75q

·       UK partners of Mazars are to have a 25% pay cut too. https://tinyurl.com/y4ldds9x I hope this is not to settle the design agency’s fee, as Mazars is the latest firm to unveil a rebrand. The result: removal of the compass thumbnail, lower case type and a new colour for the logo. There’s the usual marketing guff about DNA, heritage, roots, responsibility and “unique human touch” in the accompanying announcement. https://tinyurl.com/y3ufzgj3 This, after two years of “deep and broad consultation with our partners, employees, clients and stakeholders”.

·       But well done Deloitte. Deloitte Australia has reversed the paycuts it instated at the start of the Covid-19 crisis. As a result of strong financial performance (and associated grumbles from employees), https://tinyurl.com/yyz3s6dj a sum worth over two months’ pay is reimbursed and additional holiday entitlements granted following better-than-anticipated half year results.

RegTech uses IT to improve and speed up compliance with regulatory processes. Financial services and consumer goods companies like it, and any regulated business sector is a potential market. BearingPoint has had a successful practice in this field for a number of years, and is now selling it to PE firm Nordic Capital.  https://tinyurl.com/y5884wr4

News from Ireland – a small but vibrant consultancy market.

·       There’s a new Head of Technology for the Accenture Ireland/UK, Shaheen Sayed.    https://tinyurl.com/y6zx5j7y The Financial Times has called her one of the most influential Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) leaders, and she was voted “Woman of The Year” by the Women In IT awards body.

·       Grant Thornton Ireland has appointed two new partners. https://tinyurl.com/y6464dof  One will be based in GT New York, to develop business for the Irish firm.

·       Gillian O’Sullivan becomes the new Managing Partner for BearingPoint’s Irish operations. Musical chairs means her predecessor becomes head of the firm’s northern European division, whose previous head has… (sorry, don’t know). https://tinyurl.com/y3krvzj2 Her LinkedIn profile says the firm is hiring. https://tinyurl.com/y2tvck7j

Alantra, Alvarez & Marsal, CIL, Deloitte and Palladium were all winners at the 2020 Private Equity Awards competition for dealmakers in the UK. https://tinyurl.com/y6ry5xgh

It’s our money they’re spending….

·       Over ￡450m was shelled out by the UK government on consultancy advice in 2019-20. Deloitte (￡147m) and PwC (￡106m) together earned over a quarter of a billion pounds, with Transport and International Development the most needy Ministries. The majority of this spend is Brexit-related. https://tinyurl.com/y2x2r3qc Don’t ask about Covid-19….

·       And in another part of the forest, UK management consultancies are being tapped for advice by the UK government on…er…how to reduce government’s reliance on management consultancies. https://tinyurl.com/y5j4n9p3 Do turkeys vote for Christmas? A proposed “Crown Consultants” unit could be launched by summer 2021. A government Minister says that the extensive use of external consultants “infantilises the Civil Service” and firms give poor value for money.

·       McKinsey UK won another Department of Health contract, this time to review NHS Technology Services, for some ￡580,000. https://tinyurl.com/y3ksydad And do I pay more tax than McKinsey? Investigative journal/scurrilous rag Private Eye reports that McKinsey paid no tax on its ￡780m UK income in 2018. https://tinyurl.com/yyzsepyy .

Consultancies have been encroaching on other professions’ territories for a number of years. Not least the law. Deloitte Legal ups its lawyer headcount with the absorption of another law firm, Kemp Little. The firm offers expertise in HR, corporate finance, regulation and LegalTech. https://tinyurl.com/yxbtpwvo

Meet the new boss:

·       Tom Johannessen (ex-Deloitte) is now Managing Director for the UK Financial Services operations of Alvarez & Marsal. https://tinyurl.com/y3ajdwxb

·       OC&C have a new Global Managing Partner, Will Hayllar. The firm is one of ‘purer’ strategy houses and is best known for its board-level work in consumer goods, retail, leisure and media. https://tinyurl.com/y3sxvb87 In the US, the firm is taking on a new office in New York which will allow it to double its size from 50 to 100 consultants, its 10-strong Boston outpost is now well established, and there is a plan to open on the West Coast.

·      A former UN Innovation Ambassador, Narry Singh, has become the co-Head of Alix Partners’ Digital Services. https://tinyurl.com/y3fq5y42 According to the firm’s press release, “Narry joins AlixPartners from Accenture Digital, where, as Head of Growth, he helped to grow the business globally to over $20 billion with over 10 acquisitions. A successful Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur, Narry is widely recognized as a go-to advisor for Fortune 500 leadership teams on leveraging digital for growth, innovation, and operational improvements.”

·       Financial modellers should put aside Excel for a moment to congratulate Phil Gunter-Rees on becoming Financial Modelling Partner at Grant Thornton UK. https://tinyurl.com/y54dn9s6 From an engineering degree in Aeronautics 25 years ago, he now joins some 700 fellow modellers across GT’s international network.

·       Strategy and operations consultancy Kearney has announced a new boss for its Media practice in the US. Mike Chapman transfers from Accenture. https://tinyurl.com/y6tyftog He is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council, which promotes the development of black business leaders.

 US national firm West Monroe was a winner in the 2020 “Best Workplace for Women” awards. https://tinyurl.com/y44xxmm4 The management and technology consultancy has just bought a smaller strategy and outsourcing firm, Pace Harmon, adding three offices and 75 staff. https://tinyurl.com/yymcyl6p

Showcasing expertise:

·       Deloitte China is the fifth in the Deloitte global network to host one of the firm’s Artificial Intelligence Institutes. https://tinyurl.com/y4uw36jq (China is considered to be behind the curve in its adoption of AI.)

·       Five years after opening its first Ignition hub in the US, KPMG is bringing a digital innovation centre to London. https://tinyurl.com/y4zgy2yu Clients will be able to explore concepts and solutions in the digital technology space.

I’m often asked about sports consulting. Here’s some news that might be of interest: Boston Consulting Group has been engaged by football’s English Football League to review the league system. https://tinyurl.com/y25l6nvw I look forward to its assessment of the flat back four.

Asia has been the fastest growing region for consultancy in recent years:

·       Alvarez & Marsal SE Asia has hired two more Directors for its Restructuring and Turnaround practice. They were attracted by its “leading reputation in the corporate restructuring and turnaround space”. The two will be based in Singapore, complementing the teams in mainland China and Hong Kong. https://tinyurl.com/yybydjay

·       LanciaConsult has promoted two Directors in Singapore to lead Technology Platforms and Strategy & Operations. https://tinyurl.com/y2hwmdp9

·       Singapore is the latest location for Australian consultancy Servian: AI, digital, data analytics and customer engagement specialists. Offices in the UK, India and New Zealand, as well as six in Oz. https://tinyurl.com/yyuq3nra There’s a job on its website in Perth Australia for a management consultant, amidst others for data analysts and developers. https://tinyurl.com/y6j74ywj

·       In-and-out at Accenture India: the consultancy is letting go 10,000 local staff who are ‘underperformers’, whilst hiring 3,000 new consultants for in-demand areas such as project management, data analysis and security. https://tinyurl.com/y53knkd4

·       Australia is one of the three main RegTech markets, according to a new report from Boston Consulting Group, https://tinyurl.com/y4uabjpl (alongside the US and UK.)

·       Japanese marketing and communications consultancy Hakuhodo has welcomed UK firm Public Digital into its kyu Collective network. https://tinyurl.com/y66twlcu Public Digital has a strong reputation in digital transformation for governments and NGOs, and will join an international web of consultancies in North America, Europe, the Middle East and SE Asia.

·       UK technology consultancy BJSS will be hiring 150 staff for its new Melbourne Australia office, its first in the Asia Pacific region. https://tinyurl.com/y3bodskl The firm has already announced requirements for 80 new UK staff via its BJSS Academy initiative, where it helps young professionals train for the digital economy. https://tinyurl.com/y3wsjs9y

PA Consulting has added to its innovation practice a US technology development and engineering firm, Cooper Perkins. https://tinyurl.com/yypnqj9h PA is as a leading adviser at the intersection of business, innovation and technology and its Cambridge UK Global Technology and Innovation Centre is renowned for commercial development successes. In a separate story, PA’s major outside investor, PE house Carlyle, is reported to be planning a sale of its interest in the firm. https://tinyurl.com/y4nmxgpu And another PE-backed consultancy, the sustainability and environmental firm ERM, is also being assessed for a $2.5bn sale. https://tinyurl.com/y24c6jrz

Green is the colour:

·       Europe’s market for sustainable investment grew by ￡10bn last year. Another consultancy is launching a service line to tap into ESG and responsible investment advice – Alpha FMC. https://tinyurl.com/y34r5b6w . 20 consultants have been hired so far.

·       Climatise, a 35-strong UK climate change consultancy with ESG credentials is to join Willis Towers Watson’s Climate and Resilience stream. https://tinyurl.com/yxuzxljx

Hello, Europe:

·       GoBeyond, a UK consultancy with an office in Paris, is opening a site in Nuremburg, to better service clients in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. https://tinyurl.com/y2hma4s5 The firm is actively recruiting for the new office.

·       Deutsche Bank is selling its tech services division to Tata Consulting Services - for €1. The 1500 staff will join the ranks of TCS’s (almost) half a million tech consultants. https://tinyurl.com/y3wudb7o Financial services organisations are big buyers of TCS’s business and technology consulting support.

I was a (virtual) guest at Birmingham Business School, the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow, Newcastle University Business School, University of Strathclyde Business School and Cranfield School of Management during November, delivering presentations on consulting, and conducting 1:1 coaching sessions at City/Cass and Warwick Business School . In December I’ll be speaking at Lancaster University Management School and Sotheby’s Institute of Art. And if you are not too zoomed out, I’ll be happy to speak to you too about careers in strategy and management consultancy and the impact of Covid-19 on hiring. [email protected]

The next newsletter will be published at the beginning of January. Back copies can be found on my website, https://www.donleslie.uk/newsletter/

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.

Don Leslie Consultancy Career Strategist Careers and Consultancy

www.donleslie.uk [email protected] +44 (0)203 051 8540 + 44 (0)7812 056 652