Baker Tilly buys project management expert Outperform
Baker Tilly has acquired management consultancy Outperform UK. The aim of the acquisition is to strengthen Baker Tilly’s capabilities in project, programme and portfolio management with three key figures from Outperform becoming partners at Baker Tilly.
Founded in 2004, Outperform UK is a consultancy that works across a broad range of private and public services organisations to provide bid, project, programme or portfolio management performance improvements. The consultancy is known for its expertise in both developing and implementing best practice frameworks such as PRINCE2 (projects), MSP (programmes), P3M3 (maturity models) and the IUK Routemap (initiating complex projects/programmes).
The acquisition of the firm will strengthen Baker Tilly’s expertise in the areas of project, programme and portfolio management services. The deal sees Andy Murray, Nick Taylor and Phil Stanton become partners at Baker Tilly.
Murray brings with him 21 years’ experience in consulting. He stood at the head of two consulting firms, WPM Solutions, where he managed the consultancy unit between 1994 and 2004; before founding Outperform in 2004. Murray is a Chartered Director and holds a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors, as well as a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics from the University of Brighton.
Taylor has worked across numerous businesses in the finance, tax and accounting sector before joining Railtrack to work his way from Taxation Manager in 1993 to Head of Strategy and Development for Network Rail in 2003. He left the railway industry for opportunities in the nuclear energy sector – starting at EDF Energy as the Head of Investment Management. In 2006 he continued his career in consulting, joining Outperform as an equity Director.
Stanton started his career as a Software Engineer for Oracle in 1989, first joining the consultancy sector in 1993 at CSB Financial Solutions as a Consultant. After a brief spell as freelancer he joined the Nichols Group in 1999 as a Management Consultant, where he was notably involved in the development of Network Rail’s project management framework, GRIP, and Transport For London’s project management framework, Pathway. Stanton, who has worked for Outperform since 2014, holds a BSc (Hons) in Computing and Information Systems from The University of Manchester.
Robert Ross, Baker Tilly’s UK Head of Consulting says: “We’re delighted to be merging the Outperform business into the Baker Tilly group. There is no doubt that the team are highly experienced and hugely well regarded in the provision of project, programme and portfolio management services. The merger broadens our overall consulting offering to existing and new clients, while giving Outperform a scale of operations and resource that was not open to them previously. As a member of the RSM network, our merger with Outperform will also provide truly global reach and expertise for this important service line.”
Baker Tilly has around 3,400 staff and partners and revenues of around £300 million in the UK. Last week the advisory firm strengthened its Consulting practice with the addition of Kenny McLean, who joined from Certeco.
