Consulting revenues driving growth of RSM Ireland

01 March 2019 Consultancy.uk

RSM has spent the past two years expanding its consultancy arm to meet spiralling demand, with revenues hitting €22 million in the last financial year. As the firm chases further growth in the sector, RSM has opened a new Dublin office, as part of a broadening of its consulting offering.

The sixth largest auditing and advisory network in the world recently reported record global revenues of $5.37 billion for 2018, crowning five consecutive years of growth. RSM’s consulting services spearheaded the meteoric rise of revenues, which jumped 14.5% on the previous year. As the firm looks to capitalise on the booming demand for its management consulting services across the world, it has opened a new office in Dublin, targeting future business from fast-growing “mid-market” companies.

RSM Ireland employs about 185 staff overall, a figure that has seen drastic growth in the last two years, with its consulting unit expanding to 52 people in that time. That has played into firm revenues “increasing by 40% over the past two years to €22 million”, according to its latest results. RSM’s new office in Ranelagh, just to the south of Dublin city centre, will further accommodate this growing management consultancy unit, amid buoyant demand. RSM’s Irish headquarters are located in Dublin, while it also has offices in Offaly and Laois.

Consulting revenues driving growth of RSM Ireland

According to John Glennon, Managing Partner of the firm, as RSM Ireland branches further into offering companies advice on areas such as technology, human resources and outsourcing, the unit’s staff numbers will grow by half over the next three years. Glennon added that the firm currently earns about 55% of its revenues from consultancy and transaction advisory services, having surpassed the 45% RSM brings in from its more traditional financial accounting lines of business.

Glennon expanded, “When we set up the consulting unit in the recession, it was to help our own accounting clients – we’d tell them to cut costs but we didn’t want to just walk out of the room without helping them decide how… Now that the economy has improved, consultancy is all about helping them build teams, how to motivate young millennials and deliver outcomes.”

RSM also announced that its transaction advisory team has expanded with the addition of Tim Quigley. The professional arrived with the firm in February, joining as a Corporate Finance Partner, specialising in mergers and acquisitions and fund raising work. Quigley previously worked with Kish Capital, Merrion Capital and Big Four firm Deloitte, where he was a Corporate Finance Manager.