NHS becomes fourth largest consulting market

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