Reeves vows to halve consultancy bill, but government can’t track its spending Prof Services Despite the government setting an ambitious target to halve overall spending on consultants, a new report suggests, the lack of consistent data hinders efforts to track progress toward spending targets. Rachel Reeves has set targets to halve the UK government’s overall spending on consultants in 2025-26 and to save £550m in 2024-25, aiming for £700m [...]
AI becomes UK businesses’ first line of defence amid regulatory uncertainty Business AI has moved from an experiment to the primary ‘first line of defence’ for UK businesses facing regulatory scrutiny and operational uncertainty. According to new data from consultancy firm Elixirr, nearly half of UK businesses stated that all resilience-focused investment now flows to technology and AI. This comes as an overwhelming number of UK business [...]
Surge in cyber attacks expected to generate windfall for consultants Tech The recent surge in cyber attacks targeting major businesses and government entities is expected to drive an increase in spending on cybersecurity services from consulting firms. Cyber attacks have dominated the headlines this year, with recent incidents, such as the attacks on the Co-op and Jaguar Land Rover, resulting in substantial financial hits for the businesses. The [...]
Why graduates face a brutal jobs market September 26, 2025 While students flung mortar boards in the air after receiving their degrees, not everyone had cause to celebrate. Graduation was supposed to be the golden ticket to a dream career: get a good degree at a good university, and jobs at professional service firms, banks and consultancies would be there for the taking. For many [...]
PwC UK profits edge up as headcount reductions take effect September 17, 2025 Big Four giant PwC UK has shown steady financial recovery, with revenue, profits, and profit per partner all increasing slightly compared to the previous year, largely due to the implementation of headcount cuts. For the year ended 30 June 2025, PwC UK generated £6.35bn in revenue, up 0.4 per cent on the previous year. Its [...]
Government consultants pledge under threat as spending jumps July 22, 2025 Government spending on management consultants rose by over £150m during Labour’s first year in office, despite the party’s manifesto pledge to halve the amount departments dish out to third party advisers, City AM can reveal. Total spending on management consultancy contracts totalled £1.44bn during the first 12 months of the government’s four-year term, up from [...]
London Lions tap pyramids experts for new basketball arena plans July 3, 2025 The London Lions have appointed consultancies whose clients include the pyramids of Giza, the Eden Project and Formula 1 to help draw up plans for their new basketball arena. The Super League Basketball club have engaged The Sports Consultancy, which has worked with F1, the Football Association and the NFL, and Trivandi, whose projects have [...]
Cuts, struggles and breakups: How is AI reshaping the consultancy sector? July 2, 2025 Amidst the job cuts at Big Four, crisis mode is rearing at consultancy firms as the industry struggles to keep up with the AI world
UK government’s love/hate relationship with consultancy firms June 20, 2025 When it comes to calling in the consultants, the UK government has had leading firms on speed dial over the years. But cuts are on top of Labour's agenda
Canadian giant swoops for London-listed Ricardo June 11, 2025 London-listed engineering firm Ricardo has agreed to a £281m acquisition deal by Canadian consultancy giant WSP in the latest foreign takeover blow to the London Stock Exchange. Ricardo has accepted the 430p per share offer, a 28 per cent increase on the firm’s closing price on June 10 of 326p. It is a 69 per [...]