MCA Awards For 2024 Officially Opens

The MCA awards 2024 has officially been launched today with the awards process now open for consulting firms to enter and start preparing their entries. The full list of projects and individual categories was announced this morning along with the new line up of experts forming the independent judging panel.

The Awards will feature popular categories such as ‘Young Consultant of the Year’ and ‘Technology Transformation’ as well as ‘Sustainability’ and the ‘Chartered Management Consultant of the Year’. Among those joining the independent judging panel for the MCA Awards in 2024 will be Baroness Tanni Grey-Thomson; broadcaster Matt Frei and Deputy Business Editor for The Times, Tracey Boles. The MCA, the industry body for the consulting sector, has also produced a video featuring the judges describing their experiences of judging this major industry event and the judging rules and policies. The MCA has also announced that the reception to celebrate all those making it to the finalist stage will be hosted at the newly renovated Orangery at Kensington Palace.

The MCA Awards are the biggest event in the UK consulting calendar and highlight the work done by consultants in partnership with clients as well as the talent across the sector. Each year, the awards continue to grow with record numbers of entries from over 50 leading consulting firms and 85 client organisations in 2023 and a ceremony with over 1,000 attendees including representatives from government and the media as well as clients and MCA member firms.

The MCA Awards are judged by over 50 individuals drawn from academia, the media industry, government and the private sector. With every submission independently assessed, each judge has to sign a strict code of conduct and follow a marking and interview process with clear guidelines and criteria. Judges for 2024 include Simon Jack, BBC Business Editor; Lord Adebowale CBE, Chair of the NHS Confederation; Jacqui Rock, NHS England’s Chief Commercial Officer; Cecil Adjalo, Co-Founder and COO of Foundervine and Nick Owen CBE, former Chair of Deloitte.

The MCA is not involved in the decision-making process regarding the MCA Awards and is only involved in setting the categories, defining the judging criteria and recruiting the judges – then it’s over to our specially selected judges to make their choices according to a strict code of conduct. They are compiled of hand-picked senior representatives from client organisations, government and the media, and cover the full spectrum of business to ensure that the judging process is robust and inclusive.

Tamzen Isacsson, MCA Chief Executive, said:

“We’re delighted to be launching the MCA Awards 2024 again a truly industry wide event that aims to demonstrate the incredible value that the consulting sector delivers for our clients across the UK and the world and society. We’re grateful that so many brilliant judges have agreed to join the panel once again this year and thank them for their time and expertise they so willingly dedicate to our industry. We encourage all firms to carefully read all the entry terms and conditions and plan their written entries with clients early as only the best will get through, in what is a very tough and competitive process.”

There are now 25 award categories for 2024 with 10 individual awards and 12 project awards as well as an award for Best New Consultancy, The Times Consultant of the Year and Project of the Year. Interviews with consultants, firms and their clients with the judges will take place in June and July and the awards ceremony itself will take place on Tuesday 15^th October.

Helping to explain the processes involved, a new video is also available with a number of judges talking about the code of conduct that they have to agree to. This can be viewed at Judging Panel – MCA

For the MCA Awards 2024, the timeline is as follows:

For more information on the awards, please go to www.mca.org.uk/mca-awards . Further details including how to apply as well as details of sponsorship packages can be obtained from Natalie Mendez.