Market conditions

September seems to have been a good month for most consulting firms in Europe.  This summer, unlike that of 2011, didn’t see a crisis of confidence and many clients came back from their vacations keen to get things moving. For the moment the run up to the end of the calendar year is looking fairly positive.  Inevitably, firms’ thoughts are turning to next year: will 2013 be a good year for the consulting industry?  Vintage or vacuous?  Boom or bust?

Prior to the financial crisis most large consulting firms had written off mid-market clients.

We weren’t convinced about this last year.

We heard a lot from consulting firms about their ability to address the growth ‘agenda’, helping clients respond to the challenges of growing their business in complex and uncertain economic conditions.  But the numbers, when we came to unpick them, painted a different story; of a very small market which was struggling to establish itself.  Consultants, we suggested then, had become too closely associated in clients’ minds with back-office operational improvement. They might have been addressing the agenda, but their message wasn't getting through.