In her speech at the Ceremony, Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the MCA, said:
All across the world, governments, industries and businesses are facing unprecedented
challenges.
How to generate growth in an age of stagnation.
How to harness AI safely and sustainably.
How to reach net zero in a way that is workable and fair.
How to protect companies
– and countries
– at a time when the values we’ve taken for granted are being contested.
And how to do all of this
– and more
– with less money,
fewer resources and greater expectations from the public, customers and shareholders.
Amid all this change and uncertainty, one truth remains:
where there are challenges, our industry is asked to serve.
Consultants respond, step up to the mark, take on the most complex tasks – and deliver.
You only have to look at the finalists in this year’s MCA Awards to see that.
Our industry is bringing answers and action to some of the world’s stubbornest problems:
– Guaranteeing safer, cleaner water;
– Overhauling public transport;Rescuing troubled councils;
– Improving healthcare for millions of patients;
– Reinventing leading retailers;
– And turning businesses around – sometimes even quadrupling growth.
The MCA Awards are a chance to celebrate an industry that delivers.
And we do so with the help of the most incredible judges.
Journalists who come off their early Today programme shift and do a whole day of judging.
Captains of industry who block out eight hours in their day to interview our finalists
Judges who want to come back year after year – who are genuinely impressed by the calibre
of people they meet and work they have done
Then there are the clients who champion the consultants who transformed their organisations
There are the MCA firms who give huge time and energy to getting behind their people, their
entries and these Awards.
And there is our team at the MCA – particularly Natalie – who live and breathe these awards
all year round.
So to all of you – judges, clients, firms, MCA team – thank you.
Thanks to you, these Awards really mean something. Not just in our industry but far beyond it.
The process is rigorous. The field is crowded. The quality is so high, that even reaching the
final is a win in itself.
Many of those highly commended tonight could easily have won on another day.
But the question many may ask is: what exactly does it take to win?
In a sector defined by excellence, how do you stand out?
It starts with people and how our firms set them up for success.
First and foremost, consultancies have a habit of hiring the best.
From bright young graduates and apprentices to seasoned technical experts
– we ensure we have the right people in the right place at the right time, when clients need
them.
Not only do we hire them;
we nurture, develop, train and retain them.
Hiring the best means being able to choose from the widest pool of talent,
being open to the full spectrum of ideas and backgrounds.
This is inclusive recruitment
– and it’s what makes us a leading employer of women,
– people of different ethnicities,
– and those with exceptional stories of social mobility.
That is not ideological. It is practical.
Our firms did not embrace diversity to tick boxes.
They hired the best to be the best – and, frankly, to beat the rest.
Because that is another magic ingredient we see in our industry:
our competitiveness.
Consultants compete not just for contracts – but to raise the bar, setting new standards …
…from the principles of Consulting Excellence that we all sign up to…
…to the Chartered accreditation that more and more consultants are adding to their CVs.
That is the consulting model: getting the best people,
– and getting the best out of them.
And that’s what we see tonight: just how much people achieve when they fulfil their potential.
When I look at the list of winners, the consultants that impressed the most were those who
innovated.
Who pushed boundaries, turned old orthodoxies on their heads, who did the unpredictable.
There were those who demonstrated their empathy: who listened to what clients needed, who
built relationships.
The people who showed up – quite literally – who were on site, embedded, all in, and who left a
long and lasting legacy.
But what really stood out were those who were driven by purpose and passion.
Again and again, we heard in interviews why our finalists wanted to make a difference.
They knew that by delivering for clients, they were also delivering much needed change, for
their society, their economy and their country.
So these Awards don’t merely recognise who has delivered for their clients.
They shine a light on how consulting is delivering positive impact for clients in difficult times.
And frankly, they’re an antidote to the pessimism which seems to surround us right now.
In the media we seem to mainly hear everything in the world that is wrong.
I understand, of course, it is the media’s role to scrutinise failure.
But how often do we scrutinise success?
Look at what went right, and why, and consider how to replicate it and build upon it?
We’re drowning in negativity.
And I believe not only is that misguided; it is also dangerous.
The more we talk our country down,
the more licence we give to those who want to do our country down.
The more we believe Britain is on the brink,
the more we will be inclined to accept the easy answers peddled by populists.
We need a more positive narrative for our country’s prospects and the areas where we excel.
Consulting is one of them.
A significant one.
The world wants to buy our services, take our advice, use our expertise
– we’ve trebled exports in recent years.
In a period of change for our economy and society, we should not overreact or lose our nerve.
Instead, we must keep on delivering.
So let us inspire others to follow our lead – and go even further
Let us signal to the world the significance and worth of what we do as an industry.
And let us continue to prove that an industry of high achievers can keep on reaching new
heights.
Thank you.
A full list of the MCA Awards 2025 winners and highly commended can be found can be viewed here.