Following the financial crisis and during the early days of the coalition government back in 2010 expenditure on management consultancy in the public sector dropped significantly. Despite austerity, there are signs of a strong recovery since 2015 and it has been growing steadily once again.

After steep falls in 2010 and 2011, spending on management consultancy in the public sector has now stabilised, according to the Management Consultants Association (MCA), which calculates that aggregate public sector consulting fees stood at £1,123m in 2015. This represents around 12% of the total consulting market, estimated to be worth £9.5bn in 2015.

The Big Four – PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY – together with mid-tier firms, account for over a third (36%) of total public sector consulting, competing against long-established names like Accenture, Atos Consulting, Capgemini Consulting, PA Consulting, McKinsey, Bain and Boston Consulting.

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