Tamzen Isacsson succeeds Alan Leaman as MCA Chief Executive

The Management Consultancies Association of the UK has appointed a new Chief Executive, as it prepares for a 2019 wrought with complexity for the consulting industry. Tamzen Isacsson takes the reins from Alan Leaman, who exits the role following a decade at the head of the industrial representative body.

As the representative body for the UK’s leading management consulting firms, the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) has been its industry’s collective voice for more than six decades. Its members make up more than 60% of the UK consulting industry, and employ roughly 45,000 professionals, while working with more than 90 of the leading FTSE 100 companies and the vast majority of the public sector.

The UK’s consulting industry is worth around £10 billion at time of writing, and remains one of the world’s largest mature markets, behind the US and the collective European Union economies. However, Britain’s faltering withdrawal from the EU has caused a tumble in the value of the pound over the past two years, along with major uncertainty surrounding the economic future of the nation and slow economic growth. This, balanced with the need to address a shrinking talent pool, digital disruption, and clients scaling back their spending, means that the consulting industry is entering a complicated period in its history.

As the MCA prepares to face what may be a challenging few years for the UK consulting industry, the organisation has been fortifying its structure with the appointment of a host of new experts to its leadership team.  Earlier in the year, this saw the group appoint Howard Scott, a Consulting Partner at PwC, as its new President. This was followed by the addition of three new board members; Kate Spalding, Greg Bradley and Mark Palmer, who joined the 14-strong team, led by Scott, and including former President Howard Tollit, an Executive Partner within IBM Global Business Services.

Now, following the decision of Chief Executive Alan Leaman to stand aside after 10 years at the helm of the MCA, the entity has named his replacement as Tamzen Isacsson. According to the MCA, the communications expert inherits an organisation in a healthy and robust position from the out-going Leaman, with its members now contributing an estimated £60 billion in added value to the UK economy.

Over the course of an expansive career, Isacsson has held a number of leadership positions in membership and partner organisations. Most recently, this saw her work as Director of Communications and International for the automotive trade association, SMMT. Prior to that, she also served as Head of Media and PR for London & Partners, the Mayor’s promotional company for the UK capital. Elsewhere, Isacsson also worked in Stockholm on the management team for Nobel Media, helping to raise the global profile of the famous Nobel Prize, after commencing her career with the BBC, spending 10 years as a journalist at the broadcaster with her last role as Programme Output Editor on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Commenting on the news, MCA President Howard Scott stated, “We are pleased to have appointed Tamzen Isacsson as the new CEO for the MCA, at a key time for the organisation and the wider consulting sector… Our industry is facing many rapid changes in both business operations and technology and we, as a board, are committed to building the strength and impact of our industry body to serve the interests of our growing membership base and to help attract the best talent into our sector.”

In-bound CEO Isacsson herself remarked, “The UK consulting sector can proudly say it is one of the best in the world, helping to deliver substantial business growth and supporting tens of thousands of jobs in companies across the UK…  We will work together to enhance greater understanding of management consultancy as a profession and continue to actively promote the significant economic impact the sector has on all aspects of business and public services. Trade associations like the MCA play a key role in bringing together businesses in periods of great political and economic change, and by all accounts, 2019 looks set to be yet another busy year.”

Related: UK consulting industry grows by 5%, but faces challenges.