Back on the consulting train

For anyone still holding a sliver of doubt that the big firms are eyeing up consulting to boost revenues, then look at the latest markets stats.
The papers regurgitated the Age’s now weeks-old story that the firms are boosting their consulting departments through new recruits.
The reason? Pretty simple really. Revenues in other services lines are flat, and as the economy tentatively grows, the firms will provide businesses with strategic and change management advice. Even the UK public sector, which now has several more hoops to go through int terms of dishing out consulting deals, will require help to cut costs.
As the MCA’s stats show, financial services is taking on consultants heavily to help them deal with masses of regulatory change.
Deloitte’s global figures reveal that consulting was a big earner for the firm while struggling to hold onto their position in more traditonal service lines, which is less surprising when you consider it never ditched its consulting arm in the early noughties unlike the rest of the Big Four.
So let’s be clear – consulting is a key battleground for the near to medium-term.