Continued growth expected for consulting industry

Management consultancy is continuing to experience sustained growth, with
underlying revenues increasing to £1.8bn in the third quarter of this
year within member firms of the Management Consultancies Association.

According to the MCA, the sector has continued to grow since the fourth
quarter of 2002. Underlying revenues have increased to £1.8bn, a 6.6% rise in
the last 12 months on a like-for-like basis.

The consulting sector is also predicting more growth in the immediate term,
with 80% of MCA members – which represent about 65% of the UK consulting
industry – expecting an increase in the number of consultants employed, while
70% are expecting a rise in the volume of total new orders over the next three
months.

Nick Owen, the industry body’s vice-president and managing Partner at
Deloitte, said: ‘Although there has been limited growth over the last quarter
across all sub-sectors, the sustained growth within the consulting sector over
the past two and a half years has provided further evidence of the value
consultants add, and the positive effect they are making on their clients’
business, both in terms of improved productivity and increased revenues.’

Although members predicted further growth, the MCA survey also showed that
the sector’s confidence in the UK’s economic performance underwent a dramatic
decline in Q3 of 2005, with 58% ‘not confident’ or ‘not at all confident’ in the
UK’s economic performance. This is the first shift in confidence for over four
years, since Q1 of 2001.