BearingPoint's Laura Morroll explains her MCA Awards triumph

With multiple pressures on the consumer sector making transformation in the market more important than ever, demand for consultants to help deliver such change is incredibly high. MCA Award winner Laura Morroll sat with Consultancy.uk to discuss the future of British retail, and how she gets the best out of her team at BearingPoint.

At the end of March 2019, hundreds of professionals from across the UK consulting industry gathered in London to celebrate an action-packed year of achievement, at the annual Management Consultancies Association Awards. The 2019 ceremony, hosted by the UK consulting industry’s representative body, saw 15 consulting firms announced as victors, along with five individual winners who were selected by the panel of independent judges.

Among those lauded at the event was BearingPoint’s Laura Morroll, who was named Team Leader Consultant of the Year at the prestigious gathering. Having joined the consultancy two years ago, moving across from LCP Consulting following its acquisition by BearingPoint, Morroll is now a Senior Manager at the firm.

Talking to Consultancy.uk, she explained that after working for global consultancy Kurt Salmon for four years, she was keen for a more intimate boutique consulting experience. After moving to LCP, Morroll was understandably apprehensive when she learned of its acquisition by the larger BearingPoint. Fortunately, she was “pleasantly surprised” by what was to come.

Morroll said, “I love what being part of BearingPoint brings… Whilst we are a large European player the culture is very open and the emphasis is still on relationships, it’s a really supportive environment and one that really invests in the development of its people. As a Senior Manager I was recently sent on a week’s residential leadership course in Yale, just one of the fantastic opportunities that working for a larger business affords. I feel like I have the best of both worlds and work with some really great people.”

Since arriving at BearingPoint, Morroll – who has 20 years of retail and consulting experience – has worked on projects helping clients in the retail sector navigate the challenging environment they face in the UK. These include assignments to improve end to end buying and merchandising processes, determine customer strategies, align delivery propositions to customer demands, identify inventory and working capital savings and identify organisational and system change requirements.

“Retailers are under pressure at the moment,” Morroll stated, “and it is a tough market with rising costs and increasingly demanding customers and fierce competition but it is also an industry that provides opportunities for real success stories… At BearingPoint we… support retailers in process redesign and in building capability (people and systems) to be able to better serve their customers and operate their businesses more efficiently… I love the variety of projects that I have the opportunity to lead and work with clients on and my industry experience stands me in good stead for this.”

MCA Awards

Morroll’s hard work eventually led to a nomination at the MCA Awards. In the recommendation for the Team Leader Consultant of the Year, she was praised for “developing her own unique style of leadership” in order to get the best out of her team. Morroll’s communication skills and critical thinking were also noted, along with her support of her team’s development, and nurturing of client relationships.

When asked for her tricks of the trade, Morroll stated, “Consulting is all about people and relationships – a new technical solution, tool or process just won’t work without getting people on board. It’s my job to get to understand the individuals that I work with on projects, to listen effectively and be empathetic to their needs… It helps that it is the ‘people-part’ of the job that I love so much.”

“[The award] is recognition of the hard work that the team and I put in to do the right thing for our clients. Consulting is hard work but it is also hugely rewarding when you see the results of that hard work.”

Commenting on the MCA prize, Morroll admitted that she was touched by the response of her team – who “very kindly bought me some celebratory bubbles and beautiful flowers” before she celebrated with her family – but was also keen to praise the efforts of her BearingPoint colleagues.

She added, “I love to bounce ideas around with people and I have the advantage of working with a hugely bright and brilliant team of consultants full of great ideas – it’s really important to foster energy on projects and I try to create fun environments and ensure that the team, at all levels, feel engaged and part of driving results for our clients… I suppose [the award] is recognition of the hard work that the team and I put in to do the right thing for our clients. Consulting is hard work but it is also hugely rewarding when you see the results of that hard work.”

Related: BearingPoint records solid revenue growth despite transition year.