Brickendon Consulting expands into US market, opens New York office
UK consultancy Brickendon Consulting has expanded its operations to the US – the firm’s new subsidiary in New York is Brickendon’s first international office. The hub will be run by Executive Director Nathan Snyder, a former Credit Suisse Vice President; he aims to grow the US footprint to a 20-strong delivery team by the end of the year.
Brickendon Consulting is a UK-based management and technology consulting firm. The business advisory focuses primarily on the financial services industry, providing a range of specialised offerings, from developing strategies to translating roadmaps / plans into execution and project execution. Brickendon, in addition, delivers a suite of technology services and solutions.
Since its inception in 2010, Brickendon has grown rapidly to its current team of approximately 80 professionals, operating from the firm’s London office. Following an internal strategic review process, concluded earlier this year, the firm’s partner team agreed to aim for accelerated growth, and as part of the strategy, the consultancy, among others, brought private equity firm Mathieson Capital* on board and drafted plans for international expansion.
One of the first steps of the growth agenda was unveiled in April when Brickendon announced that it would be crossing the Atlantic to set foot on US soil. The management consultancy opened its office in New York yesterday, providing it with a strategic footprint in another of the world’s financial centres and, according to A.T. Kearney, the world’s second most attractive city for business, trailing just London.
The new office, operating as the subsidiary Brickendon Consulting US, is run by one of the group’s Executive Directors, Nathan Snyder. He has been with the firm since 2013, joining from Credit Suisse where he spent four years as a Vice President in London and prior to that worked for Merrill Lynch, where he served as Assistant Vice President. Earlier in his career Snyder worked in the consulting industry, holding roles with project management expert PTS Consulting and Pagoda Consulting. Snyder, who is based on the ground, is supported from London by Chris Burke, Brickendon’s founder and CEO, and Lee Pittaway, Head of Business Development, who will operate across New York and London.
Commenting on his new role, Snyder says “This is a very exciting opportunity for Brickendon as we look to expand our footprint both geographically and in terms of our client base. It is fantastic to be entrusted with this new venture.”
The US practice will build on Brickendon’s existing client portfolio across New York and Boston, states Snyder. “This is where our existing financial services clients are based.” Going forward, the head of the US office says that the firm will leverage its global expertise and track record to contract new US clients, with US banks and insurance companies, as well as foreign banks with local operations, high on the target list. Snyder has been tasked with growing the local team to around 20 by the end of 2016 – recruitment activities have already been kicked-off.
Asked for how Brickendon Consulting will differentiate itself in the US consulting industry – a market valued at $55 billion – Snyder points at the specialist expertise the firm has in financial markets and at the track record of Brickendon’s consultants. “All our consultants have more than 10 years' domain experience, meaning all our consultants are experts, not just the seniors.” He adds that the consultancy has the capacity to support clients from strategy through execution, and can deploy solutions that “save time and money” for the firm’s clients.
* As part of the consultancy agreement with Mathieson Capital, Richard Burrell, Managing Partner of the private equity company, has joined Brickendon’s Board as non-executive chairman.
