Monday night saw the inaugural Young MCA Consultants' Challenge take place in central London, with a dozen teams entered from some of the biggest names in consulting. Comprising teams of ten, the various rounds challenged consultants to demonstrate the skills they use in their everyday lives - communication skills, risk assessment...
Top-Consultant.com were thrilled to be sponsors of the event, with £1,500 being raised on the night to support the DEPAUL TRUST.
Both Accenture and BT got off to slow starts, with the night looking like it might provide something of an upset. Could one of the smaller firms trounce the bigger names in our industry? Well as the leader board below confirms, Accenture emerged as eventual winners; a joint Tata Consultancy Services / Impact Plus team came second; BT came third.
And to give them their moment in the spotlight, here's the winning team from Accenture accepting the winner's trophy:
Thanks to Natalia, Joy, David and the rest of the team at the Management Consultancies Association for organising what was a fun night.
Tony
Many of you will know Martin Hancock, who in 2006 was one of just 7 recruiters named Top Management Consultancy Recruiter in recognition of outstanding candidate feedback from Top-Consultant readers. Well Martin is embarking on what looks like a hellish endurance race together with colleague Tara Benton - and it's all in aid of the charity Sportability. The Coast to Coast Race will be held over 2 days and will see the two cover a distance of 120 miles through a mix of fell and road running, on and off-road mountain-biking and kayaking.
Tara and Martin hope to raise as much money as possible for this worthwhile cause and you can contribute on a corporate or a personal basis via:
http://www.justgiving.com/prismMartin & Tara need your help to reach their target of £1,000 - so please help make their effort worthwhile. Rgds, Tony
In recent years our industry has seen a new priority emerge at the Management Consultancies Association – and that is to foster the development and enthusiasm of young consultants who will be the lifeblood of the industry’s future. Top-Consultant.com became sponsors of the Young MCA a year ago as part of a fun drive to broaden the reach of the Top-Consultant brand. Events to date have included a riverboat cruise and talks from networking experts, sporting idols and entrepreneurs. But now the Young MCA have gone a step further and are appealing to consultants’ competitive nature.
Hot on the heels of programmes such as The Apprentice and Dragons’ Den, the MCA have announced the launch of “The 2006 Young MCA Consultants’ Challenge” which will see teams of consultants pitted against one another to complete a series of tasks and challenges. Whilst intended to be a fun event, knowing the consulting industry you can imagine the rivalry there will be between firms to secure their place as leaders of the pack! And for those of you looking to broaden your consulting network, entries are now being sought from teams of young consultants interested in taking part in this month’s event.
The format will see teams of consultants from compete in three activities designed to test the skills management consultants use during their daily work. Top-Consultant are pleased to be sponsoring this charitable event and hope to see as many readers there as possible. For further details and to register a team see:
http://www.mca.org.uk/MCA/Events/EventDetails.aspx?EventID=164
Hope to see you there - Tony
A number of high-profile consulting firms have been reeling from the impact the NPfIT project has had on their finances, with cash either coming into the businesses far slower than anticipated - or provisions having to be made for expected future losses on the work. This is having a very real effect on the consulting workforce, with many firms financially strapped and unable to push through the salary rises that many in the industry have been expecting from the resurgent industry.As if these financial woes were not bad enough, the consulting industry is now to be hit by a further NHS blow in the form of bad press. The Guardian and Accountancy Age are just two publications that are today covering the news that the National Audit Office's review of the NPfIT project is to be reopened - only weeks after it was given a clean bill of health in an NAO report. The decision tees up weeks of potential bad press for the consulting industry, as problems with the project are dragged up again - and consultancies are made the scapegoats for what is proving to be a political dream that's exceptionally hard to realise. Expect this one to drag and drag through until Christmas time at least...
