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The UK public sector is a lucrative market for consultants in the UK, with more than half a billion pounds awarded to the world's biggest consulting firms every year since 2015. We've taken a deep dive into how these firms* performed against each other last year, including a breakdown of contract awards to these firms by government department and the value of their contracts expiring in 2019.
*Accenture, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, McKinsey, Mott MacDonald, PA Consulting and PwC
Key findings:
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The total lifetime value of contracts awarded to the top consultancy firms in 2018 was £554m, a slight increase on 2017's £546m
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PA Consulting won the biggest contract of any of these firms in 2018, a £67m contract from Hampshire County Council to help them "make technology a central element of social care"
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PwC won more than 70 public sector contracts in 2018, the most of any firm analysed. However, only four of these contracts was worth more than £5m.
The value of contracts won by these ten firms has remained fairly consistent for the last four years at just over £500m, bar 2016 where they won over £800m from the wider public sector. Despite a remarkably stable total award value, the number of contracts these firms won dropped by nearly 20% between 2017 and 2018 - it seems they are winning fewer, but larger contracts.
Three government departments alone - Cabinet Office/CCS, Home Office and DfID - account for nearly half (£250m) of the value of contracts awarded to these ten firms. This includes £75m awarded by the Cabinet Office to 9 of these companies for EU Exit consultancy support.
