Will Hayllar named global leader of OC&C Strategy Consultants
Global strategy consulting boutique OC&C Strategy Consultants has named Will Hayllar as its new Global Managing Partner.
“I am honoured and hugely excited to be taking on this role,” said Hayllar, who has been with the consultancy his entire career.
Having joined OC&C Strategy Consultants in 2000, Hayllar rapidly rose through the ranks – from Associate Consultant to Partner within the space of a decade. Over the past few years, he led OC&C’s Consumer Goods practice, and was also the UK Managing Partner.
Headquartered in London, OC&C Strategy Consultants is a mid-sized strategic consultancy that positions itself as a pure-play firm. While most of its rivals have over the years branched out to other areas of work (operations, digitisation, restructuring, etc), OC&C Strategy Consultants has remained close to its core – advising executives on C-Suite challenges.
“What do we do at OC&C? The clue is in the name. And that is all we do,” said Chris Outram, who founded OC&C in 1987 in the UK together with fellow Booz Allen alumni Geoff Cullinan.
Among the firm’s main offerings are business growth, commercial strategy, organisation design, business model innovation, and mergers & acquisitions with a focus on due diligence work. Active across a range of industries, OC&C enjoys a particularly strong track record in the retail, consumer goods, grocery, leisure, telecom & media and private equity sectors.
Commenting on the firm’s positioning, Hayllar said, “At a time when others are diversifying we find that our strategy focused model is increasingly differentiated as a proposition for clients who need high quality strategic solutions founded on robust analysis. It’s equally differentiated for talent seeking a home that is focused on strategic work which provides such stimulation and development and where they can be part of continuing to build a truly special firm.”
The new Global Managing Partner, who is based out of London, has been tasked by the firm’s partnership with “building a highly successful independent firm that offers unparalleled strategic advice to its clients and is the best home for top quality talent.”
Integrated partnership
He succeeds David Krucik and James George, who jointly held the top role as part of OC&C’s transition to an integrated global partnership. Beginning the transition in 2015, OC&C mapped out its shift from a federation of offices to a more closely integrated partnership over the last five years, enabling a more ‘one firm’ approach in terms of client delivery, financials and internal operations. The move was also a strategic response to the changing nature of the firm’s work – with most of its clients now global and regional accounts.
In the role of Integrated Offices Managing Partner, David Krucik oversaw the integration process. James George meanwhile was the firm’s International Manager Partner, focused on managing the firm and expanding its footprint. Having completed their duties and respective terms, both senior members of OC&C’s partnership now return to client facing roles.
“The transformation in recent years has turbo-charged the potential of our model enabling us to work seamlessly around the world and bring together the best talent for each client,” said Hayllar.
Today, OC&C has over 550 consultants working from 11 offices in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The consultancy also has a number of partnerships with counterparts to cover other regions, including an alliance with RedSeer, a tier-one consulting firm with offices in South Asia and the Middle East.
Looking ahead, Hayllar is confident about the future, concluding, “The disruption wrought by Covid-19 means clients are more than ever in need of fundamental strategic thinking to help them navigate the dramatic changes and new opportunities this disruption has created.”
