- Over one thousand one hundred guests including consultants, clients, media and government attended the biggest ever MCA Awards Ceremony which recognised individuals and projects from across the consulting industry
- 22 different large medium and small consulting firms gained winning and highly commended entries, as decided by the independent panel of judges
- The Times Consultant of the Year was announced as David Orr from Mott MacDonald, who also won the Chartered Management Consultant of the Year, for his work with clients across the globe helping to reduce carbon emissions on major infrastructure projects
- Project of the Year and winner of the Change and Transformation in the Public Sector category is North Highland with the Ministry of Justice for their focus on digital transformation in prisons, helping to improve efficiency and reduce reoffending.
- 95 Client organisations from across the private and public sector joined MCA member firms to recognise the work of consultants across 25 categories
The MCA Awards winners and highly commended finalists for 2023 have been celebrated at the largest ever awards ceremony for the consulting sector. Over 1,100 guests including government officials, national media and clients from across the private and public sector attended the event at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The ceremony was presented by Clare Balding CBE with speeches by the Chief Executive Tamzen Isacsson and President Yunus Ozler of the MCA highlighting the impact of consulting both in the UK and globally.
This year, the Times Consultant of the Year was awarded to David Orr from Mott MacDonald who was also the winner of the ‘Chartered Management Consultant of the Year’ category. The judges described David as ‘a true ambassador for the sector’ and were impressed by his work in helping companies and communities work together to reduce carbon emissions. Examples include a project with the government of Kenya and in-country teams to support carbon reduction pathways with similar work undertaken in Pakistan, India and South Sudan. Additional individuals recognised included Susan McDonald from Deloitte in the Experienced Leader category for her work delivering outstanding service to the public sector with her engineering background and Raj Cheema from KPMG for his use of technology in healthcare in the Technology Consultant of the Year category. Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Lisa Fernihough, Chief People Officer at KPMG and Anna Nation from Eviden, an Atos business, was winner in the Inclusion Award.
Project of the Year and winner of the Change and Transformation in the Public Sector category went to consulting firm North Highland for its work with the Ministry of Justice. The programme aimed to contribute to rehabilitation for prisoners and help modernise and drive efficiency for prison officers.
Yet again, the MCA Awards saw a record number of entries from 50 leading consulting firms of all sizes emphasising the importance of the awards to the sector. An independent judging panel of over 50 judges from business, academia and media conducted the interviews earlier in the year and large, medium and small firms were all recognised for their exceptional work.
Hosted at a new venue, the Grosvenor House, 22 firms in total were handed out winning or highly commended awards with celebrations for large, medium and small firms. Overall, there were 16 wins and highly commended awards for SMEs while medium sized firms secured 5 awards including the prestigious Consultant of the Year and Project of the Year. PwC gained 12 winning and highly commended trophies, KPMG 11, Deloitte 8 and EY 6.
Nusrat Ghani MP, Minister of State for Industry and Investment Security at the Department for Business and Trade and Minister of State for the Investment Security Unit at the Cabinet Office, said:
“The MCA Awards highlight the growth and development of our world-leading consulting industry and the impact that it has for clients across the globe, and I congratulate this year’s winners for their recognition among the very best of the sector.
“The progression of consulting in the UK is testament to the talent within the sector and the opportunities it offers to people from all parts of our society.”
Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the MCA, said:
“In recent years – as a sector – we have enjoyed a period of sustained growth, despite the economic circumstances that have surrounded us. But we are not immune to them, and we are mindful of what they mean for our clients, our people and ourselves. But our growth as a profession is about so much more than about the size of our sector. We have grown in the services we provide. Raising our standards of delivery. Committing to Consulting Excellence.”
She continued:
“Increasingly we play a vital role in future proofing British and global businesses and enabling them to grow and prosper. Cyber security and technology transformation - essential. The implications of AI – a vital consideration for us all. And on climate change – humanity’s biggest test – consultants are at the forefront of aiding business and society into meaningful sustainable change. As the challenges become more daunting – we respond as a profession, head on, always raising our standards.”
President of the MCA, Yunus Ozler from EY said:
“Once again, this evening has been a celebration of our profession and the contribution we make to every aspect of national life in the UK and beyond our borders. The diversity of skills and expertise which we provide our clients with, and an increasingly diverse set of professionals as members of our industry, reflecting all our communities. We are a sustainable industry adding to the sustainability of our clients.”
Although sustainability was a theme for many of the projects in the awards, the Sustainability Award overall winner went to Arup with Glasgow Life. Helping to meet net zero targets, the renovation and repair of the Burrell Collection led to the recycling of aluminium frames which saved over 8.5 tonnes of aluminium production and over 16 tonnes of glass. Propaganda with BSW Group were winners in the Strategy category for its work helping to substantially grow the timber sawmilling company as well as improving staff unity. In the Change and Transformation in the Private Sector category, Deloitte was recognised for its work with SSE to support the delivery of six new critical energy transition projects by shaping dialogue between industry, supply chain stakeholders and the regulator.
Many winning projects were with public and private sector sectors across a variety of sectors. The Technology Transformation category, sponsored by Kantata, was awarded to EY for its revolutionary work with esure to help transform the insurance sector with a game changing, end to end technology and business platform. In the International category, Deloitte with Sanergy, were winners for developing a maintenance strategy for its sanitation solution in Nairobi. PwC with the Home Office were recognised in the Commercial Impact category for their work in supporting asylum seekers while
Best New Consultancy, sponsored by Equiteq, was awarded to Enfuse Group, a digital transformation consultancy based in Reading. Judges were impressed with the firm’s ‘great evidence of being value centric, hugely energetic and strong demonstrations of repeat business. ‘The Best New Consultancy is the only category open to non- MCA member firms and details for entering the MCA Awards 2024 can be found at www.mca.org.uk/mca-awards
Overall, there were 25 award categories in this year’s MCA Awards with 12 project awards, 10 individual awards and 3 overall awards. Young consultants were recognised for their achievements, at the start of their career. Apprentice of the Year was Olivia Sullivan from Arup who ‘gave really powerful examples of rising to challenges’ while the Rising Star category, sponsored by Grayce, was awarded to Muneeb Sheikh from Vendigital who judges described as ‘an excellent all-round consultant with a refreshing approach’. Young Consultant of the Year was Rhys Thomson from SME health consultancy CF for his impact with clients.
Media partner, The Times, will be publishing details of the finalists in a special supplement on 16th October while sponsors of the MCA Awards for this year were Deloitte, EY, Equiteq, Grayce and Kantata.
A full list of the MCA Awards 2023 winners and details of the MCA Awards 2024 is at Winners 2023 – MCA