| | By Mick James
...continued from
page 15
Generally these
consultants are absorbed
into industry or join
other consultancies. The
sole practitioner route
can be very hard until
you have built up a
track record of
projects. Now the
interim route offers
another option.
“If you look at the
market for professional
managers, interim
management started in
the 1970s,” says
McNeill. “We predict
that what happened there
will happen to | |
|
| | consultants and there
will be a take-off in
the interim consultant
market.”
How big this market
will be is a
chicken-and-egg kind of
question, as at the
moment many of the
potential buyers of
interim consultants will
be unaware of the
potential resource or
how to access it. While
this will become an
increasingly accepted
way of delivering change
projects, McNeill is not
predicting the end of
traditional consultancy
firms which will still
continue to provide
direction and assurance | |
|
| | where clients need it.
“But if you’re doing
a project where there is
likely to be no comeback
and the commercial risk
is low, why pay the risk
premium?” he asks.
“Also, you find that the
big firms don’t want to
deal with one-man
projects, whereas we’re
pretty much exclusively
dealing with one-man
projects where it’s low
risk and people just
want a safe pair of
hands.”
As well as continuing
to develop the market
for interim consulting,
McNeill is now looking
to grow the consulting | |
|
| | arm, B2E Solutions, in
conjunction with the
network that has been
developed by B2E
Resourcing.
“If clients want us
to take more
responsibility for
projects then we are
more than happy to
provide them with a
partner,” he says.
“We’re now looking to
bring some partners into
the consultancy business
to grow that. Our
resource pool is now so
potent – we have 4,000
people on the books and
no bench.”
There are an infinite
number of ways to slice | |
|
| | the consultancy cake,
and clients are the
ultimate beneficiaries
of the variety of models
on offer. At the moment
clients are faced with a
tough dilemma.
Reduced headcounts
and pressure on
resources means it is
harder to deliver change
projects internally, but
at the same time all
external budgets are
under tight scrutiny.
Could the interim model
offer them a way out of
this impasse? We shall
watch its development
with interest.
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