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Q5 opens an office in Leeds to serve North of England

29 January 2019 Consultancy.uk

UK consulting firm Q5 has launched a new locale in the North of England, with the opening of a presence in Leeds. The hub will assist businesses in the continuing efforts of the so-called Northern Powerhouse project, which is driving to see the region boom economically in future years.

Launched during the world’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Q5 Partners first opened for business in 2009. The group thought they could help businesses better respond to the challenges confronting them, with benefits that lasted beyond the four quarters of the financial year, into the fifth quarter, or 'Q5', which the company derives its name from. The consultancy has grown rapidly since, and now works for clients across several industries, providing media, financial services, retail, professional services and government consulting services.

The British origin consultancy headquartered in London announced a number of new ventures in the last year as it bids to expand on an international basis. After launching in the US, Q5 subsequently also made a foray in Australia and and Hong Kong.

Q5 opens an office in Leeds to serve North of England

Now, the firm has launched a new office in the West Yorkshire city of Leeds to serve as its North of England hub. “Over the past 10 years, we have enjoyed working on projects in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Liverpool.  We are always looking for better ways to serve our clients and hope that through our new Leeds office we can combine both our global and local expertise to best support our clients in the region," explained Olly Purnell, Q5’s Managing Partner.

The new venture will lend support to clients across the region, with the UK’s business community and government continuing to claim that the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ is a continued priority for the nation. Britain is said to see the North as a major area of potential to diversify its economy away from the global economic hub of London.

Commenting on the news via LinkedIn, Sharon Rice-Oxley a Partner and co-founder of Q5, said she was “looking forward to the firm's adventure supporting ‘the Northern Powerhouse’.”

Via the same platform, Andy Cottrill, another Partner at Q5, added that the consulting firm was now on the lookout for new clients in the region. He stated, “Network 'shoutout' – calling all contacts in Leeds and Manchester! I'm really excited that we have opened a new office in Leeds right in the city centre. It would be great to be connected with anyone in your network either based in Leeds or has connections there or more generally in the UK's cherished 'Northern Powerhouse'… This could be either businesses that may need help or natural networkers or connectors who may help to grow our presence there.”

Clients Q5 works for include Barclays, British Airways, the BBC, Shell and Dow Jones, among other global brands.

Last year, Q5 was named a top boutique management consultancy to work for in the UK by The Sunday Times.

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Newcastle consulting firm opens Baghdad office

05 April 2019 Consultancy.uk

A Newcastle-based consultancy has announced it will open its first office in Iraq. The news comes despite warnings that the area remains “high risk” for businesses.

16 years after the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the nation remains a shadow of its former self. The continued chaos wrought by the Iraq War – which eventually played a role in the rise to prominence of Daesh, further destabilising the region – means that even now, the nation’s capital is deemed to have the lowest quality of living in the world. According to a recent survey from Mercer, Baghdad ranked last overall – immediately below Bangui of the Central African Republic and Damascus in Syria – despite the other two being determined as the worst cities on the planet for personal safety.

However, as with the wider Middle East, the oil-rich state presents a lucrative destination to businesses willing to take the risk. To that end, a Newcastle recruitment consultancy has announced the opening of its first presence in Iraq’s capital city. Samuel Knight has taken the decision to open its Baghdad locale in order to grow its business in the Middle East.

Newcastle consulting firm opens Baghdad office

While businesses remain wary of the region, Samuel Knight specialises in recruiting talent in the energy and rail sectors, and in a release it said the new office would continue to focus on these areas. It will also allow the firm to make sure it abides by local compliance laws. The new location will be headed up by Haider Kadhim, Samuel Knight’s Iraq country manager, who will work as the first point of contact for clients and candidates. Representatives from the Department of Trade Industry are expected to attend a launch event for the office, which will be held this month.

Commenting on the new office,  a spokesperson for Samuel Knight said, “We probably don’t see it as a risk, but more of an opportunity, as we operate in the Middle East extensively already. We have contacts in place in the country location and with the consultants we have. We felt it was a great opportunity to expand into a country we are already doing work in. It means we have an on-the-ground team to help our clients. From our perspective, it is that we are looking to expand into new territories, but we are also supporting countries that are starting to redevelop after years of warfare.”

Steve Rawlingson, CEO at Samuel Knight, said, “Our aggressive five-year growth plan is manifesting at  an impressive rate, taking the company to exciting new territories. The team is working diligently to surpass expectations set out in the plan, and to ensure Samuel Knight is cemented as the leading global energy and rail recruitment specialist. Our Baghdad office will give us a distinctive edge over our competition and allow for more exciting business opportunities. Once the office becomes more established and client acquisition develops, we will certainly be adding more consultants and manpower in the city.”