The National Health Service now spends more on consultancy than the entire UK manufacturing industry, and is the fourth largest market for consultants.

The latest survey on the consulting market by Accountancy Age reveals the extent to which the NHS, currently struggling to manage its over-budget IT programme, has become a key fee income provider for consultancy firms.

The NHS is now the fourth largest market for consultants, and increased its spending on consultancy by over 26% last year, adding an extra £67m. While this was a much lower percentage and actual fee income growth than in the previous financial year, the NHS pushed the manufacturing industry into fifth place on the ranking list of large markets.

Financial services and central government contracts continue to be the most lucrative markets for consulting firms and account for over half the total fee income gain recorded for all consultancy markets combined, according to the survey. Together they spent an additional £261m on consultancy last year, accounting for two thirds of the total gain recorded by the seven largest markets.

For more consulting surveys got to www.managementconsultancy.co.uk