In the past 12 months the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), the
trade association for UK-based consulting firms, reports a renewed “war for
talent” as the market for consulting services continues to grow. But that
hasn’t meant a drop in standards: clients have never been better informed or
more demanding, looking for advanced skills in many specific fields,
delivered with ever increasing levels of involvement and commitment to their
business. So the bar was set high when the MCA launched the first ever
Consultant of the Year Awards to find the best the profession has to offer
in six service-line categories and three career stages
HR Consultant of the Year, sponsored by IBM Global Business Services
Winner: Annette Swinburn, Deloitte
Runner-up: Ben de Haldevang, Price Waterhouse Coopers De Haldevang, 41,
ran his own company for several years, which he sold into PWC two years ago.
As a director in human resource services, his particular interest is the
cultural barriers of company mergers, often a key factor in why deals go
wrong.
Significant projects include a multi-billion-pound retail pharmacy merger,
where, two years on, staff are still using the terms he introduced to help
them. Another impressive project involved a subsidiary of a large bank that
doubled in size. Away from the office, de Haldevang is a professional jazz
musician.
Change Management Consultant of the Year, sponsored by Maven Training
Winner: Helen Pyecroft, Tribal Consulting
Runners-up: Mark Berman, Hitachi Consulting Berman, 41, joined Hitachi
as director of consulting services when it acquired his employer, Impact
Plus. He is helping the seven government-funded research councils to create
a shared services centre to handle HR and postgraduate grants.
Michael Stephenson, IBM Stephenson, 48, founded a carbon change programme
within IBM, which he joined 12 years ago. Based partly on the question,
“What can we do to minimise the carbon footprint of our consulting
inquiries?”, the resulting strategy is being tailored for clients.
Strategy Consultant of the Year, sponsored by Mindbench
Winner: James Eteen, Ernst & Young
Runners-up: Richard Kho, Accenture Kho, 29, a chemistry graduate,
joined Accenture four years ago and is manager in the strategy resources
team. His work on behalf of a national oil company based in Africa, helping
it decide on new markets, was a factor in securing his position on the
shortlist.
Michael Nates, Turner & Townsend Nates, 41, is head of sustainability at
Turner & Townsend, working with a team of 20. Recent projects include a
low-carbon feasibility study for the Thames Gateway and work with KPMG on
improving its corporate real estate strategy. “I do not come at
sustainability as a tree hugger but as a business imperative,” he says.
IT Consultant of the Year, sponsored by Monetical
Winner: Richard Forrest, Deloitte
Runners-up: Nigel Green, Capgemini Green, 51, joined Capgemini in 2005.
His work for the Home Office on an IT network for the criminal justice
system and the lessons learnt from the project, which can be applied to
other public-sector organisations, is being turned into a book.
Dominic Knight, Price Waterhouse Coopers. Knight, 41, has been at PWC since
2004 and for the past two years has worked with the Department for
Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Learning and Skills Council to
establish the Learner Registration Service, an internet-based record of
students’ education from the age of 14.
Performance Improvement Consultant of the Year, sponsored by Depaul Trust
Winner: Hamish McKechnie-Sharma, Capgemini
Runners-up: Lynne Anderson, Turner & Townsend Anderson, 41, has
worked for Turner & Townsend for five years. A recent project was
working with a large food retailer to innovate services. “Clients want to
improve performance: we show the measurable benefits, which means
understanding where they start from,” she says.
James Curzon, Bluerock Consulting. Curzon, 32, joined Bluerock in 2005. This
year he has been leading a team of 45 working with First Data and
Barclaycard to launch new credit card services.
Marketing Consultant of the Year, sponsored by LexisNexis
Winner: Kirsty Cowan, Propaganda
Runner-up: Anne Filatotchev, Accenture Filatotchev, 33, a senior
manager in the financial services strategy practice, recently assisted a
large European banking organisation that is facing new competitors. She
helped it to design “a marketing organisation that would lead all of its
customer insights”.
Filatotchev, whose PhD focused on retail banks, has been employed by Accenture
for nine years. She is working with a UK bank “to try to understand why
customer perceptions of service are declining... and what it can do to
improve customer satisfaction”.
Winners at each career stage
Best New Consultant, sponsored by Accenture
Winner: Paul Vivash, Deloitte
Runners-up: Peter Coote, Wexner Being a novice at the age of 52 is a
big plus point for Coote. He joined Wexner as product and people development
director two years ago.
Catherine McDonald, Ernst & Young. McDonald, 22, joined Ernst & Young
18 months ago and is working on one of its flagship accounts and leading a
change management work stream. “It’s been a steep learning curve,” she
confesses.
Future Consulting Leader, sponsored by Price Waterhouse Coopers
Winner: Isabelle Bailey, Ernst & Young
Runners-up: Nasmin Begum, Tribal Consulting Begum, 30, has been a
senior consultant at Tribal for two years and is procurement director on a
programme seeking to save £9.2m by getting NHS trusts to procure goods and
services collaboratively.
Claire Davies, Accenture. Davies started working at Accenture in management
consulting in 2002. Recently she has been working in China helping an energy
company.
Best Partner/Director, sponsored by Consulting Point
Winner: David Wilson, Accenture
Runners-up: Simon Leary, PWC Leary, 41, joined PWC in 1989. He is a
partner in the firm’s advisory practice. For nearly three years he was
seconded as head of the Department of Health’s strategy unit.
Barry Matthews, Alsbridge Matthews has worked for Alsbridge for two years.
Projects include an independent review of pathology services “to improve
quality and efficiency of service delivery” for the Department of Health.
Rules of engagement
The Consultant of the Year Awards were open to individuals from any firm that
has been in practice in the UK for at least three years and employs at least
10 full-time consultants in the UK.
In May, the UK’s consultancies – MCA members and nonmembers – were invited to
enter their brightest and best (with a maximum of 10 entries per firm) for
any of the six service-line and three career-stage categories by August 31.
The written entries were judged on eight criteria: client focus, leadership,
teamwork, communication, project management, critical thinking, specialist
knowledge and client testimonials.
By October the judges had drawn up shortlists for each category and invited
those candidates to attend an interview to answer detailed questions on
their entries and support their submissions with examples from their work.
The judges were looking for outstanding performance in the candidates’
specialist area or career stage. The winners were all able to articulate how
they had made a difference for their clients and their colleagues.
The suspense was finally relieved at an awards presentation in London last
Thursday, where the nine winners and the runners-up were announced.
To find out about the Consultant of the Year Awards 2008, visit www.mca.org.uk
The judges
The nine judges brought a wealth of experience to choosing the winners. Some
have been consultants and others were on the other side of the fence as
clients, evaluating the effectiveness of consultancy to their businesses.
Several of their CVs include consultant training and development, while
posts at top business schools have been the gateway to valuable research.
Dr Duncan Angwin, an associate professor at Warwick Business School
Melanie Franklin, chief executive of Maven Training, a management
training company
Christine Dyke, a director of Partners in Development, which develops
consultants
Peter R Graham, FME fellow, Bath School of Management
Ken Whitton, freelance strategy consultant
Eilish Henry, deputy director of HMRC’s PaceSetter programme
John E Abram, head of strategy and business development, Monetical
Peter Hill, chief executive, MCA
Carol Lewis, editor of Career at timesonline.co.uk
