- The Times Consultant of the Year and winner of Thought Leader Consultant of the Year goes to Louise Ellis, Arup
- Project of the Year, sponsored by Deltek, is awarded to EY with The Metropolitan Police Service
- Award winners highlight how industry is driving forward the sustainability agenda and improvements in vital public services across the country
- 7 individual winners celebrated with Young Consultant of the Year going to Anju Jacob, Deloitte and Outstanding Achievement Award going to Anna Somaiya from KPMG for her work in promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry
The MCA has announced the winners for its 2020 MCA Awards at a virtual ceremony which took place tonight in front of consultancies, clients, government officials and media representatives. A range of consultancy firms and their clients were recognised for their award-winning projects and 7 individual winners were selected by the panel of independent judges. The MCA Awards, now in their 23rd year, received record entries this year and the ceremony was held virtually hosted by the BBC presenter Jeremy Vine and featuring an address from the Minister for Business and Industry Nadhim Zahawi MP.
Overall there were 22 award categories with 12 project awards, 7 individual awards and 3 overall awards. There were prizes for Best New Consultancy (J-CURV), Strategy (Decision Technology), Commercial Excellence (Arcadis with Southern Water) and Performance Improvement in the Public Sector (PwC).
The Times Consultant of the Year was awarded to Louise Ellis from Arup who impressed the judges in the individual category of Thought Leader Consultant of the Year. Louise was commended for helping to shape the agenda in the high-profile area of water resilience and has experience of working with stakeholders across the world to find solutions to some of the toughest of challenges from drought in Cape Town to unprecedented sea level rises in Miami. In awarding the prize the judges stated that she was “a true ambassador of our industry in all senses and demonstrated commitment to the cause and delivered outstanding achievements”
The overall project of the year and winner of the People category went to EY for its work with the Metropolitan Police Service in designing and delivering a unique leadership programme for 10,000 officers. Its objectives were to improve operational performance, make the Met more inclusive, build public confidence and improve staff morale and engagement and was so successful that it now forms a key part of the Met’s promotion curriculum for new managers and leaders.
Other winning projects included PwC’s work in supporting the growth of the market challenger, Starling Bank and Decision Technology which was winner in the Strategy category.
For those firms working with the public sector, IBM’s work with the Scottish Government in helping deliver social security benefits to the citizens for the first time was recognised in the ‘Change and Transformation in the Public Sector’ category while BAE Applied Systems Intelligence and its work with the Royal Navy, won the category for Data and Innovation in the Public Sector. PwC was also recognised for its work with Bedfordshire Police on how best to align resources with their growing public-protection demands in the ‘Performance Improvement in the Public Sector’ arena.
Individual recognition went to a range of consultants at different stages of their career. Young Consultant of the Year was awarded to Anju Jacob from Deloitte while Lucy Rollinson from Deloitte was Best New Apprentice and Rising Star was Holly Armitage from BAE Systems Applied Intelligence. Outstanding Achievement was awarded to Anna Somaiya from KPMG for her working in promoting diversity and inclusion. Innovation Consultant of the Year went to Jonny Stephens from Bearing Point while Emma Booth from PwC was Team Leader of the Year.
Best New Consultancy, sponsored by Mindbench, was awarded to JCURV, a consultancy which supports clients across all sectors including retail banking, wealth management, insurance, retails and energy.
Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the MCA, said:
“The huge efforts our industry is making to deliver positive benefits for the economy and society is reflected in the range of projects which have been recognised in this year’s MCA Awards. Our individual winners represent the best in management consultancy and as well as being accomplished consultants serving clients’ needs, they are driving real change in their industry improving diversity, shaping the sustainability agenda and highlighting the importance of mental well-being. Congratulations to all the finalists who participated in this year’s awards.”
Speaker at the awards, Nadhim Zahawi MP, Minister for Business and Industry, added:
“The UK consultancy sector is a valuable part of our economy, not only through its contribution to GDP, but the support it offers to firms across the country to become more productive and efficient.
“While the pandemic has presented its challenges, I believe the sector can continue to thrive, helping to power our national economic recovery.”
A full list of the MCA 2020 Awards winners can be found at www.mca.org.uk/mca-awards
MCA 2020 Awards Winners and Highly Commended
Best Use of Thought Leadership – sponsored by Kimble
Winner
Arup with Bernard van Leer Foundation and Real Play Coalition
Highly Commended
Deloitte
PwC with Microsoft
Change and Transformation in the Private Sector
Winner
PwC with Standard Life International
Highly Commended
Vendigital with Newsprinters
Change and Transformation in the Public Sector
Winner
IBM with Scottish Government
Highly Commended
Carnell Farrar with Isle of Wight NHS Trust
KPMG with Nursing and Midwifery Council
Commercial Excellence
Winner
Arcadis with Southern Water
Highly Commended
Vendigital with Bombardier Transportation
Data and Innovation in the Private Sector
Winner
PwC with Starling Bank
Highly Commended
KPMG with HSBC
Data and Innovation in the Public Sector
Winner
BAE Applied Systems Intelligence with Royal Navy
Highly Commended
Cognizant Consulting with The Football Association
International
Winner
Arup with Department for International Trade
Performance Improvement in the Private Sector – sponsored by Retain International
Winner
BearingPoint with Slater Gordon
Performance Improvement in the Public Sector
Winner
PwC with Bedfordshire Police
Highly Commended
BearingPoint with Hertfordshire Community Trust
IBM with DWP Digital
People
Winner
EY with The Metropolitan Police Service
Social Value
Winner
Deloitte with Helpforce
Strategy
Winner
Decision Technology with BT Group
Highly Commended
EY with EDF
Individuals
Young Consultant of the Year
Winner
Anju Jacob, Deloitte
Highly Commended
Lewis McCormack, Arcadis
Mei Yan Pun, EY
Andrew Brough, Vendigital
Best New Apprentice
Winner
Lucy Rollinson, Deloitte
Highly Commended
Samuel Imie, Deloitte
Humaid Motala, PwC
Rising Star
Winner
Holly Armitage, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence
Highly Commended
Ysabel Brown, Arcadis
Laila Takeh, Deloitte
Josh Hasdell, KPMG
Team Leader Consultant of the Year
Winner
Emma Booth, PwC
Highly Commended
Laura Flynn, EY
Paul Rees Jones, EY
Innovation Consultant of the Year
Winner
Jonny Stephens, BearingPoint
Highly Commended
Tyler Welmans, Deloitte
Thought Leader Consultant of the Year
Louise Ellis, Arup
Outstanding Achievement
Winner
Anna Somaiya, KPMG
Highly Commended
Ally Robson, NECS Consulting
Andy Woodfield, PwC
Best New Consultancy – sponsored by Mindbench
JCURV
Highly Commended
Arca Blanca
Procura
The Times Consultant of the Year
Louise Ellis, Arup
Project of the Year – sponsored by Deltek
EY with The Metropolitan Police Service