The top UK consulting firms according to clients and consultants

Large scale research among executives and industry insiders has identified the top consulting firms in the United Kingdom. The list of UK’s top consultancy firms is full of familiar faces, with the Big Four and the three largest strategy consulting firms all among the top ten.

For the analysis, researchers from Financial Times and Statista sent out two surveys. One to more than 1,000 senior executives and managers who have hired management consultants in the past few years, asking them to rate the consultancy services they received from very good to very poor. The other survey went to consultants working in the industry, surveying over 5,000 partners and consultants in the process. Overall, 1,400 consulting firms with an operation in the UK were included in the analysis.

With a recommendation score of 100% for the in total 29 service areas and industries studied (see below) – KPMG Advisory (including KPMG Boxwood) has been named the UK’s top consulting firm. The firm’s market leading score is based on the sheer breadth and depth of its services, combined with one of the highest client satisfaction scores and a solid peer review.
Deloitte and Accenture come in second and third, also managing to receive a recommendation in every category. Accenture’s consulting score builds on the services offered by its Strategy & Consulting and Interactive (including Digital) arms, as well as the services provided by UK subsidiaries ?What if! (acquired in March 2019) and Javelin Group (purchased in June 2015).

The consulting portfolio of Deloitte is provided by three main labels: Deloitte Consulting (its main brand), Monitor Deloitte (its strategy & operations consulting arm founded after Deloitte acquired Monitor Group globally) and Deloitte Digital (its digital and technology implementation division).

Notable is that Deloitte and Accenture both received 24 gold scores from clients and consultants (gold representing significantly more recommendations than the average), ten more than the overall leader KPMG. Number four on the list, PwC, meanwhile received 17 gold scores, with IBM Global Business Services and McKinsey & Company rounding off the top five in terms of gold scores.

The overall top five is closed by PwC and McKinsey & Company, which both managed to gain a recommendation in every category, although PwC ranked just higher thanks to its Strategy& subsidiary. Strategy& is PwC's strategic consultancy business, with the unit (formerly Booz & Company) receiving three recommendations for its work in strategy, digital strategy and the public sector.

The UK’s top ten consulting firms in the eyes of buyers and consultants is completed by Boston Consulting Group (including BCG Digital Ventures and BCG Platinion), EY (including EY-Parthenon), Bain & Company, IBM Global Business Services (the advisory arm of tech giant IBM) and Kearney (formerly A.T. Kearney).

With a total of 27 recommendations, Boston Consulting Group ranks hot on the heels of arch-rival McKinsey & Company (29 recommendations), and just ahead of the third largest of the ‘MBB’ consultancies Bain & Company (23 recommendations).

Accounting, consulting and tax advisory group EY sits in between the two strategy consulting firms, with 23 recommendations, while technology-origin IBM Global Business Services and Kearney managed to scoop 16 and 15 recommendations respectively.

The globe’s fourth largest strategy & management consulting firm, Oliver Wyman, ranks 17th overall, scoring particularly well in strategy & operations, sales & marketing and finance & risk, as well as in its traditional powerhouse sector financial services. Other strategy focused consultancies that landed a spot in the top consulting firms list are UK-headquartered L.E.K Consulting and OC&C Strategy Consultants, German-origin Roland Berger and US-based Arthur D. Little.

Capgemini Invent (the management consulting wing of Capgemini), PA Consulting Group (majority owned by private equity group Carlyle), Baringa Partners, BearingPoint (including Prederi, which it acquired in 2019) and the Advisory divisions of Grant Thornton and BDO all rank in the top 20, with clients and consultants recommending these firms in more than one in five of all categories surveyed.

Among the global consulting firms that can call themselves a leading UK player are generalist players Alvarez & Marsal, FTI Consulting, AlixPartners and Atos Consulting, and specialist firms such as Korn Ferry (a HR consultancy, formerly Hay Group), Simon-Kucher & Partners (dedicated to sales & marketing), Capco (a financial services consultancy) and Analysis Mason (a specialist in technology, media & telecom).

Home grown UK consulting firms that made the list include Egremont Group (which also has a US office), Clarasys, Curzon Consulting (part of the Nextcontinent network), Moorhouse (acquired by SQS and Assystem in 2018), Chaucer (a digital transformation consultancy), The Berkeley Partnership, Alpha FMC (a specialist in asset and wealth management), Vendigital (an implementation specialist), Candesic (a healthcare specialist) and CIL Management Consultants.

The full list of UK’s leading consulting firms

The full list of the circa 200 consulting firms that made ‘UK’s Leading Management Consultants 2020’ list by Financial Times and Statista are found below:
KPMG
Deloitte
Accenture
PwC
McKinsey & Company
Boston Consulting Group
EY
Bain & Company
IBM Global Business Services
Kearney
Capgemini Invent
Atkins
PA Consulting Group
Grant Thornton
Baringa Partners
BearingPoint
Oliver Wyman
Vendigital
BDO Advisory
L.E.K Consulting
BAE Systems Applied Intelligence
Korn Ferry
Cognizant
CRA - Charles River Associates
Tata Consultancy Services
Arthur D. Little
Egremont Group
Arup
Mott MacDonald
Infosys
Alvarez & Marsal
Clarasys
Curzon Consulting
FTI Consulting
Moorhouse
OC&C Strategy Consultants
RedQuadrant
Arcadis
ERM
Gartner
AlixPartners
Kantar
Savills
31ten
ASE
Basis
BJSS
Chaucer
Infinity Works
Publicis Sapient
Roland Berger
The Berkeley Partnership
BMC
Fujitsu Consulting
Aon
Atos Consulting
Decision Technology
Gameshift
Mercer
Simon-Kucher & Partners
Wood Mackenzie
11:FS
4C Associates
Accelerating Experience
Agility in Mind
Alpha FMC
Altran Consulting
Avanade
Baxendale
BCS Consulting
BidPartners
Business Information Systems Consulting
Capco
DXC Technology
Enterprise Learning
Frontier Economics
Gallup
Human Engine
Human Innovation
North Highland
Project One
Talik & Co
ZS Associates
Apex Healthcare Consulting
2020 Delivery
3keel
Ashfield
Beyond Philosophy
Capita
Crimson & Co
GE Healthcare Partners
Hitachi Consulting
Mace
Manifesto Growth
AccountAbility
Acrotrend
Actica Consulting
Adviselnc
Afiniti
Akeso & Co.
Alchemmy
Amicus
Analysys Mason
Attain
Bourton Group
Brand Vista
Brandpie
Cadence Innova
Caliber
Cambridge Consultants
Cambridge Econometrics
Candesic
CGI
CIL
Citihub Consulting
Clear
CMG
Cogentia Healthcare Consulting
Concerto
Consulting People
Cornwall Insight
Costain
CPC Project Services
Data Consulting
Decidedly
decisionLab
Digital Workplace Group
Distinction Consulting
DMW
Edge Health
EFESO Consulting
Efficio
Faithful+Gould
Fluxx
Forrester
Freshwater
Frog Design
Gardiner & Theobald
Genesis
GGI (Good Governance Institute)
Given London
IDEO
Innovation Unit
Integration Consulting
Interbrand
io consulting
Ipsos Business Consulting
Jacobs Consulting
JLL
LeighFisher
Live Strategy
Live Strategy
Marsh
Mason Advisory
Metalogue
Molt MacDonald
MTM
Navigant
Netcel
Ogilvi Consulting
OHE - Office of Health Economics
Ovum
Oxford Strategic Consulting
Oystercatchers
Pearson Ham
Philips Healthcare Consulting
PPL
Propaganda
Prophet
Proudfoot
Quantum
Quick Release_
Raytheon
Ricardo
RSM
Sales Tec
SLR Consulting
Smith+Co
Solon Management Consulting
Soul Consulting
Steer
Stern Stewart & Co
Sustain Value
The Brattle Group
The King's Fund
Triangle
Turner & Townsend
twentyfifty
Unipart Group
Volans
Vynamic
Watts
Wipro
WSP
WSP
RSM

Scope of the research

The industries and services included in the analysis are:
Industry: Aerospace & Defence
Industry: Automotive
Industry: Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
Industry: Construction & Infrastructure
Industry: Consumer Goods & Retail
Industry: Energy, Utilities & Environment
Industry: Financial Services
Industry: Healthcare & Life Sciences
Industry: Industry & Metals
Industry: Insurance
Industry: Internet, Media & Entertainment
Industry: Oil & Gas
Industry: Public & Social Sector
Industry: Technology & Telecommunications
Industry: Travel, Transportation & Logistics
Service: Data Analytics & Big Data
Service: Digital Transformation
Service: Finance, Risk & Compliance
Service: Innovation, Growth & New Business Models
Service: IT Implementation
Service: IT strategy
Service: Marketing, Brand & Pricing
Service: Mergers & Acquisitions
Service: Operations & Supply Chain
Service: Organisation & Change
Service: People & Performance
Service: Sales & CRM
Service: Strategy
Service: Sustainability