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Energy consultancy scoops awards in best workplace competition
 
 Management consultancy
The Structure Group has
won five honours in the
50 Best Workplaces in
the UK Awards 2007,
held by the Great Place
to Work Institute UK.
   The annual survey of
top UK companies awarded
the energy-sector
specialist first place
in the categories of:
"Most Trusted
Management", "Most
Collaborative Culture",		 
 "Best for Absence of
Organisational
Politics", "Most Fun &
Friendly Companies" and
"Most Welcoming
Companies". The
Structure Group was also
ranked third in the
"Best for Worklife
Balance" category – a
significant achievement
given the pressures of
the consulting
lifestyle.
   Additionally, The		 
 Structure Group was
ranked overall as one of
the top 50 best
workplaces in the UK, as
a result of a
combination of employee
surveys and a cultural
audit of policies and
practices.
   "Winning these awards
is the culmination of
nine years' cultural
development and
innovation at
Structure," said Jim		 
 Hayward, founder and
senior director at The
Structure Group. "We
have invested heavily in
our people, recognising
the importance of a
company's culture to its
long-term success."
   The consultancy is
currently leading major
programmes of business
change across a number
of blue-chip European
energy companies,
including EDF Energy,		 
 Centrica, NUON and
British Energy. The
company has achieved a
compound growth rate of
over 300% for the last
three years. Headcount
has doubled over the
same period (58% through
referrals) and this
expansion, coupled with
the high retention
rates, has been decisive
in its success.
   		 
 
Capgemini sees Q1 revenues up 18.5%
 
 Growth in its
outsourcing business and
the acquisition of
Indian firm Kanbay
boosted Capgemini’s
first-quarter sales by
18.5%. The company
reported revenues of
€2.2bn for the three
months to 31 March, up
from €1.9bn for the
first quarter of 2006.
   Excluding the gains
from the Kanbay
acquisition, by
discipline, strongest
growth was recorded in		 
 outsourcing services
(+18%) which Capgemini
said benefited from the
ramp-up of several major
contracts.
   Revenues for
consulting services and
technology services were
up by 12%, while those
for Sogeti rose by 8%.
   Europe and Asia
Pacific has seen growth
of 14%, led by the
United Kingdom and
Ireland region whose
revenues were up by 19%,
along with the Nordic		 
 countries, Italy and
Asia Pacific, which
recorded growth of more
than 20%. In North
America revenues have
risen by 12%.
   "Following the high
level of activity
recorded for the first
quarter, the group is
upwardly revising its
revenue growth target
for the whole of 2007 by
a percentage point," the
company said. Its
previous forecast was
for 8% annual growth. 		 
    Bookings for the
first quarter of 2007
amounted to €2.1bn
compared to €3bn for the
first quarter of 2006.
For outsourcing services
they were down by €1bn
against those for the
first quarter of 2006,
during which large
contracts with General
Motors and HM Revenue
and Customs were signed.
   However, bookings for
the consulting services,
technology services and
local professional		 
 services have gone up by
14% and the book-to-bill
ratio, which reached
108% on average, was
over 135% for North
America.
   Capgemini chief
executive Paul Hermelin
has said that the
company is interested in
further acquisitions but
will not pursue rival IT
services group Atos
Origin.
   		 
 
Serco to acquire Cornwell Management Consultants
 
 Serco Group plc and
Cornwell Management
Consultants plc have
reached an agreement by
which Serco will acquire
Cornwell's ordinary
share capital at 40
pence a share for a
total of approximately
£7m.
   The acquisition will
broaden Serco's service
offering, adding new		 
  
   
 
 
 
 
 project and programme
management and
enterprise architecture.
   Christopher Hyman,
chief executive of
Serco, said: "Our
consulting business has
grown rapidly over the
last four years and our
ambition is for it to be
a leading enabler of
business transformation.
The acquisition of		 
 Cornwell is an important
step, increasing our
capabilities and
capacity to provide high
value advice to our
customers. We look
forward to welcoming our
new colleagues to Serco
and taking on the
exciting opportunities
in this market."
   The acquisition will
also widen Serco's		 
 customer base in key
government spending
departments and
agencies, such as the
Department of Health and
the Identity and
Passport Services
Agency. These benefits,
and the greater scale of
the enlarged group, will
make Serco's consulting
business well-placed for
future organic growth. 		 
 skills and capabilities
in information and
knowledge management,
particularly electronic
document record
management systems. It
will also increase
Serco's capacity in		 
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