Elixirr outperforms slowing consulting industry with 20% growth
A slowing consulting industry hasn’t slowed down Elixirr, with the management consulting firm seeing its revenue jump by 20% over the past year to a record £85.9 million.
“Despite uncertain market conditions, 2023 was another fantastic year for Elixirr,” said Stephen Newton, Founder and CEO of Elixirr. Alongside revenue, most of the firm’s other key financials also performed stronger than the year previous, including project margins, profitability, partner revenue and profitability, and cash flow.
“FY23 was another brilliant year – one not possible without our clients, amazing people, supportive investors and a focussed ambition,” said Graham Busby, CFO at Elixirr.
Elixirr’s results come at a time of slowing demand for consultants, with Source for Consulting data showing that overall industry growth scaled back to 4.7% last year. In 2024, the UK consulting market is forecasted to flatline at 0% growth. The environment has seen a raft of firms take measures to trim headcount and curb spending.
Newton said the firm’s market beating results were testament to how the firm has proactively diversified its business across geography, industry and capability to it more resilient to macro-economic cycles.
“We have observed a shift in client needs over FY23 and, as a result, we have made strategic moves as a business to ensure we continue to meet evolving client expectations. We’ve done this by significantly investing in growing markets such as AI, data, change and transformation,” he explained.
This included two acquisitions: Responsum, which added in-demand AI capabilities to Elixirr and expanded its presence in the US market; and Insigniam, a change and transformation consultancy with a presence in the US and Europe.
While the two deals amounted for only 5% of the 20% growth, Elixirr said the bolt-ons house significant growth potential, opening doors to new clients, markets and capabilities. “Responsum for example enables Elixirr to support its clients from strategy through to execution in the AI space, an industry that is expected to grow twentyfold by 2030.”
Through these acquisitions, Elixirr welcomed five new partners: Steve Steinberg; Shideh Sedgh Bina, Nathan Rosenburg; Jennifer Zimmer and Katerin Le Folcalvez. The firm also promoted several partners from within (4) and hired partners (3) from other companies to diversify its capabilities.
In 2023, Elixirr added multiple accolades to its awards roster, including being named a Leading Management Consultant by Financial Times and a Top Consulting Firm by Consultancy.uk.
Looking ahead, Newton stated: “We continue to pursue our ambition of becoming the best management, data and AI consulting firm in the world, centred around the technology of tomorrow while maintaining our strategic acumen, boutique agility, and disruptive approach to consulting.”
