PA Consulting employees among world's first Chartered Project Professionals

12 November 2018 Consultancy.uk

As a number of business management sectors attempt to increase the quality control among their professionals, the Association for Project Managers has launched a new Chartered Project Professional standard. Among the first to receive the award are 10 members of PA Consulting Group.

Contrary to the law or accounting professions, for instance, consulting is a comparatively open field to work in, as the occupation does not have a protected status. As a result, anyone can call themselves an advisor, a consultant, or a project manager, explaining for a large part the large number of consultants in the UK – something that has led to a growing number of former government officials and statesmen to offering their services as independent consultants after leaving office.

Now, in a bid to provide a level of quality control as well as informing clients that they will receive value for money, the Association for Project Managers (APM) has launched the Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) standard. The professional benchmark is aimed at demonstrating attainment of a defined level of technical knowledge, professional practice and ethical behaviour, forming the basis of the assessment that applicants must pass to gain inclusion to the Register of Chartered Project Professionals.

Among the initial cohort of professionals to have attained the ChPP status are 10 employees from UK headquartered PA Consulting Group, making them some of the first of their kind in the world. The PA project management experts who have obtained the designation are Emma Burrows, Trevor Birch, Roger Byrne, Alex Garrard, Mark Harper, Andy Hockley, Isabelle Linden, Rob McDonald, Alex McNichol and Mike Wallace.

The individuals have been recognised as experts in project and programme delivery, as well as being a ‘safe pair of hands’ for challenging client projects. The endorsement reflects personal development over a number of years and a commitment to continued excellence in their chosen field. The Chartership also demonstrates the increased status of project management in organisations/clients and the public.

Commenting on the achievement, as well as celebrating her own ChPP obtainment, PA Consulting’s Emma Burrows said, “I have been operating with the P3M domain for over 15 years within several organisations and across a number of different markets. Chartership is a huge step in consolidating and underpinning the experiences that I have gained and also provides the clients that I work alongside with the confidence and assurance that they are getting ‘qualified’ advice and support. I genuinely feel privileged to be one of the first to take the step into Chartership and will be hugely proud to attain ChPP status.”