32 consulting firms named finalists for MCA Awards 2020

27 January 2020 Consultancy.uk

The Management Consultancies Association has announced its finalists for the 2020 edition of its annual awards ceremony. A total of 32 firms have been short-listed for the 12 project-orientated prizes, as well as a gong for Best New Consultancy.

Each year, the MCA Awards is hosted by the UK consulting industry’s representative body to recognise the nation’s best consulting firms, projects and consultants. After a record number of entries were submitted for the 2020 edition, the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) has announced the firms to have made the final short-list for its top prizes, which will be handed out on Thursday April 23.

The Awards span 22 different categories, of which 13 laud the contribution of top firms in the UK’s £11 billion industry. As is often the case, the Big Four is set to dominate proceedings, with a collective of 25 award-nods between them for projects in 2019. PwC leads the pack with nine nominations, closely followed by EY with seven, Deloitte with six, and KPMG with three.

The latter two members of the quartet were conspicuous in their absence in last year’s nominations, so the numerous nominations going to Deloitte and KPMG represents something of a bounce back.

Consulting firms among finalists at MCA Awards 2020 - 1

While the world’s largest professional services firms look set for a particularly strong performance at the ceremony, however, as was the case in 2019, the short-list is a long way off of replicating the Big Four dominance which has been seen in previous incarnations of the MCA Awards. Indeed, when considering project nominations alone, another 28 firms are represented by the MCA’s short-list.

Notable examples include BAE Systems, whose Applied Intelligence business was listed for four prizes, as was newcomer Arca Blanca – including one for Best New Consultancy. Arcadis, Arup, BearingPoint, Cognizant, IBM, NECS Consultancy, Procura Consulting and Vendigital all picked up multiple selections too.

Elsewhere, the changing landscape of modern business has seen the MCA add a number of new categories to proceedings. In the group categories, this sees the arrival of the Data Innovation Award (contested by Arcadis, Carnall Farrar, Cognizant, Deloitte, EY, IBM, KPMG and PwC) and the Data and Innovation in the Private Sector (contested by Chaucer, Deloitte, EY, IBM, KPMG and PwC.

Consulting firms among finalists at MCA Awards 2020 - 2

Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the MCA, said of the news, “The MCA Awards are a celebration of the outstanding work that management consultants are involved in across the public and private sector and highlight why the UK is proud to have one of the largest and most well-respected consulting sectors in the world. Of course, winning matters but more importantly these case studies put clients centre stage, on the record, championing the collaborative work being done with consultancies to deliver better business results and public services for society.”

Overall for 2020, there are 20 award categories with 7 individual awards and 12 project awards, as well as an award for Best New Consultancy. Full details can be found below.

Best Use of Thought Leadership

Arup
Atkins
Deloitte with UK Policing
KPMG
PwC with Microsoft

Change and Transformation in the Private Sector

Arca Blanca with Ocado
Arca Blanca with McCarthy & Stone
Deloitte with Maersk
Gate One with Whitbread and Costa
PwC with Standard Life
PwC with Upfield
Vendigital with Newsprinter

Change and Transformation in the Public Sector

Arcadis with Digital Railway
BAE Systems Applied Intelligence with the Home Office
Carnall Farrar with Isle of Wight care system
Coeus Consulting with Southend-On-Sea Borough Council
Cognizant with the FA
Deloitte with the Metropolitan Police Service
EY with Youth Endowment Fund
EY with Dept of Justice and Equality
IBM Global Business Services with the Scottish Government
KPMG with NMC
PwC with Highways England
PwC with Haringey Council

Commercial Excellence

Arcadis with Stansted Airport
Arcadis with Southern Water
Procura Consulting
Vendigital with Bombardier
Vendigital with Meggitt

Data and Innovation in the Private Sector

Chaucer with BP
Deloitte with AstraZeneca
EY with Roche Health
IBM Global Business Services with Cannes Lions
KPMG with HSBC
PwC with Starling Bank

Data and Innovation in the Public Sector

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence with the Royal Navy
Cognizant with the FA
Deloitte with NHS Lothian (Edinburgh)
Inner Circle Consulting with the London Borough of Newham

International

Arca Blanca with Vision-Box
Arup with the Department for International Trade
Integration Consulting with L’Oréal
PwC with The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Simon-Kucher & Partners with DFDS

Performance Improvement in the Private Sector

BearingPoint with Slater Gordon
Egremont Group with Walgreens
Gobeyond Partners with NHBC
PwC with SIG Plc

Performance Improvement in the Public Sector

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence with the Home Office
BearingPoint with Hertfordshire Community Trust
EY with Network Rail
IBM Global Business Services with the Department for Work and Pensions
NECS Consultancy with NHS National Cancer Programme
PwC with Bedfordshire Police