A historic night for the MCA Awards saw its 25th annual event attended by almost 1,000 industry figures. The gala in London saw the Management Consultancies Association reveal the winners of 25 awards, with 22 firms winning or receiving special commendations, with mid-sized firms performing strongly, picking up 11 of the prizes.
The Management Consultancies Association (MCA) has celebrated a quarter-century of celebrating the best and brightest of its industry, with the hosting of its 25th annual MCA Awards. On a lively night in Westminster, close to 1,000 consultants, industry experts and clients packed out the hall of the Park Plaza Hotel, in the largest MCA Awards attendance to date. The ceremony was presided over by respected broadcast journalist Sir Trevor McDonald – who stepped in at the last minute for the originally billed host Huw Edwards.
Reflecting the rapid growth of the UK’s management consulting industry, the growth of the awards has necessitated a number of changes going forward. The 2022 gala will be the last MCA Awards to be hosted at Park Plaza – moving to The Grosvenor Hotel next year.
This was symptomatic of a wider sense of change in the consulting sector, which was referenced repeatedly throughout the event. Yunus Ozler, who became the MCA’s President in the spring, said in his speech that he believed “the next President of the MCA is somewhere in this room”. The EY Partner added that on the basis of “the talent, expertise and insight” of the diverse representatives before him, the organisation would be “in great hands.”
MCA CEO Tamzen Isacsson was similarly keen to highlight the rapid expansion of Britain’s advisory market – not just in terms of revenues, but also in terms of opening itself up to new pools of talent. Noting that as demand from clients for support during periods of major change, “new jobs are being generated across our sector with new opportunities for graduates, apprentices and school leavers across the nation.”
Reflecting the shifting shape of the consulting sector, this year’s MCA Awards added several new categories to the event. The first ever Inclusion Award for an individual who had excelled at championing and building an inclusive workplace and demonstrating the impact of their work in their firm was handed to Sonia Sharma of EY. A new Sustainability Award was awarded to IBM Consulting with the UK Fashion and Textiles Association, after the firm helped the fashion industry to make its supply chains more sustainable. And Susannah Lindsay from IBM scooped the inaugural Chartered Management Consultant of the Year category, created to celebrate those making use of the MCA and CMI’s Chartered consulting certification.
The diversifying nature of UK professional services was also embodied by the number of different winners at the event. Overall, there were 25 award categories in this year’s MCA Awards with 12 project awards, 10 individual awards and three overall awards.
The evening saw larger firms pick up numerous awards including 12 wins and highly commended accolades for PwC – including an individual prize for Marnie Grant, who was named Times Consultant of the Year – 10 for EY and six for IBM. But many medium and smaller firms also secured winning entries in both project and individual categories. Overall, 13 mid-sized firms such as Atkins, BearingPoint, Curzon Consulting, Proxima, Arca Blanca and CF racked up 11 winning awards, and 11 highly commended nods.
Explaining why it was important the MCA Awards included such a range of firms, Isacsson added, “This is our biggest ceremony ever. We have never had so many awards and we have never had so many entrants competing for them. And our industry has never been this size before. But the evening is about even more that. It is a celebration of all we do to make our industry better. To deliver for clients. To deliver for our communities. To raise our standards. To improve ourselves as individuals.”
Full list of winners:
Projects
Best Use of Thought Leadership
Winner
PwC with Children in Care
Highly Commended
EY with the UK Climate Business Forum
PwC with Green Jobs Barometer
Change and Transformation in the Private Sector
Winner
PwC with National Grid
Highly Commended
Arca Blanca with Landsec
Deloitte with AstraZeneca
Change and Transformation in the Public Sector
Winner
Atkins with the Ministry of Defence
Commercial Impact
Winner
Curzon Consulting with Ramsay Health Care UK
Technology Transformation
Winner
PwC with London South Bank University
Highly Commended
Coeus Consulting with Shell Energy
International
Winner
EY with SAP
Highly Commended
Arup with the Authority for Reconstruction with Changes
Performance Improvement in the Private Sector
Winner
Proxima with Baxters
Highly Commended
KPMG with Tesco
Performance Improvement in the Public Sector
Winner
CF with the NHS England Breast Screening Recovery Programme
Highly Commended
Arcadis with Network Rail
Atkins and Faithful + Gould with High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd
People and Leadership
Winner
BearingPoint with Bupa
Social Value
Winner
Propaganda with GenM
Highly Commended
IBM Consulting with the UK Health Security Agency (HSA)
Netcompany with the Department of Health & Social Care
Strategy
Winner
CF with North Central London Community and Mental Health
Highly Commended
Arca Blanca with Avast
PwC with Network Rail
Sustainability
Winner
IBM Consulting with Fashion Trust
Highly Commended
Arup with Health Care Without Harm
KPMG with UCL
Individuals
Young Consultant of the Year
Winner
Marnie Grant, PwC
Highly Commended
Elizabeth Bradley, Proxima
Adam Kavanagh, PwC
Aakash Phulwani, EY
Apprentice of the Year
Winner
Alicia Leavitt, PwC
Highly Commended
Akram Halim, Arcadis
Grace Blake, IBM Consulting
Honor King, PwC
Rising Star
Winner
Yeshua Carter, EY
Highly Commended
Tim Deeker-Harris, Proxima
Team Leader Consultant of the Year
Winner
Matthew Nimmo, Inner Circle Consulting
Highly Commended
Will Browne, CF
Caroline Canham, PwC
Thought Leader Consultant of the Year
Winner
Angela Spatharou,IBM Consulting
Highly Commended
Catriona Campbell, EY
Technology Consultant of the Year
Winner
Jonathan McNaught, EY
Highly Commended
Akhil Nair, GHD Advisory
Lee Crooks, KPMG
Inclusion Award
Winner
Sonia Sharma, EY
Highly Commended
Josh Graham, Deloitte
Aidan Moran, IBM Consulting
Experienced Leader Award
Winner
Julie Neal, Vendigital
Highly Commended
Sean Casey, EY
Adam Smith, NECS Consultancy
Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner
Michael Robinson, KPMG
Highly Commended
Tracey Gilbert, IBM Consulting
Chartered Management Consultant of the Year
Winner
Susannah Lindsay, IBM Consulting
Highly Commended
Matt McCabe, EY
Guy Watmore, PwC
Overall
Best New Consultancy
Winner
Blurred
Project of the Year
Winner
CF with the NHS England Breast Screening Recovery Programme
The Times Consultant of the Year
Winner
Marnie Grant, PwC
