Consultants see growth in 2010

The consulting industry grew 6% in the first half of 2010 compared with the previous six months, according to the latest statistics from the Management Consultancies Association (MCA).

In the same period for 2009, the industry contracted by 2%, so the latest numbers show significant improvement.

"This is a successful start to the year for the consulting industry, and anecdotally firms are reasonably confident that growth will continue through the second half," said MCA chief executive Alan Leaman.

He expects that lower demand for public sector services to be offset by growth in financial services, and strategy and change management.

Nearly one third of MCA member firms said that their fee income from financial services and manufacturing grew by more than 5% during the six month period.

More than a half (57%) said they expect demand in financial services to grow more than 5% in the second half of the year, over and above the current growth.

Accountancy Age revealed in July that the Big Four accounting firms were planning strong recruitment to boost their consultancy divisions.

Further reading:

Big Four make plans for growth in consulting