MCA makes timeline changes to its annual MCA Awards
The Management Consultancies Association has announced a change to the calendar of its annual MCA Awards. Having traditionally taken place in the spring, the 2021 edition of the ceremony will now be hosted in November.
The Management Consultancies Association (MCA) has been the industry’s collective voice for more than six decades. Its members make up more than 60% of the UK’s £11 billion consulting industry, and employ roughly 45,000 professionals.
For 23 years, the MCA has hosted an annual awards ceremony to celebrate the work the industry does every day, in partnership with consultants and clients.
Until now, the London based event traditionally took place in spring – however, the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic has seen the MCA make a major shift on its annual calendar. As of 2021, the organisation has confirmed that the MCA Awards ceremony will take place in November.
According to the MCA, the change for the awards will give more time to firms to make their submission during a very busy time – as they are called upon by public and private clients to help with their coronavirus and Brexit responses.
Tamzen Isacsson, MCA Chief Executive, said, “Since the outbreak of the pandemic, consultants have been supporting clients with critical work, harnessing all our industry and digital expertise to help the UK economy and society recover. The expanded timetable for this year will enable firms and individuals to have more time to put together their winning entries, and we are hopeful we will all meet face to face to celebrate their achievements in the autumn.”
The new event date means that all timelines leading up to the MCA Awards will change as well. The MCA Awards opened for entries from the beginning of this month, but the deadline for written entries to be submitted will now run until March 12th 2021, before finalists are announced on May 24th.
Interviews will then take place in June 2021 when consultants and their clients will be questioned by the judges on their projects and career achievements. The winners, as well as those who have been highly commended, will then be announced at the usual MCA Awards Ceremony and dinner at Park Plaza, London in November.
The awards will continue to have 22 categories with 12 project awards, seven individual awards and three overall awards. Categories for projects range from Best Use of Thought Leadership, Change and Transformation in the Public Sector, International, Strategy and Performance Improvement in the Private Sector. Individual categories include the highly popular Rising Star, Young Consultant of The Year, Best Apprentice and Outstanding Achievement. The overall categories are Best New Consultancy, Consultant of the Year and Project of the Year.
MCA's 2020 awards
While the digital incarnation of the 2020 ceremony ended up taking place in April, the MCA had previously mooted a move to November. Monitoring Public Health England advice and the policies of MCA member firms, the organisation determined that the health and well-being of members, clients and guests meant it should postpone the ceremony to a time when the coronavirus had diminished.
As it worked out, hosting the event in November 2020 would have seen it coincide with the massive second wave of the virus currently sweeping Europe. With rumours continuing to circulate regarding a vaccine, and public and private bodies scrambling to introduce monitoring measures that could allow ‘business as usual’ even without the end of the pandemic, the MCA will be hoping that the matter will be under control by this time next year.
