MCA reveals expert independent judges for 2025 awards
The Management Consultancies Association has announced a number of high-profile new independent judges for this year's MCA Awards 2025. The panel will spend June interviewing shortlisted consultants and firms, to help determine the winners announced in November.
On the 10th of November 2025, hundreds of professionals, industry experts and clients will gather in London to celebrate the best of the UK consulting industry. Taking place at the Grosvenor Hotel, the 28th annual Management Consultancies Association (MCA) Awards will see prizes dished out across 25 categories, with 10 individual awards and 12 project awards, as well as an award for Best New Consultancy, The Times Consultant of the Year and Project of the Year.
Submissions closed in February, and entrants now have until the 14th of March to submit written entries backing up their candidacy. Following that, finalists will be announced on the 19th of May – before judges interview the shortlist throughout June 2025. Ahead of this, the MCA has announced the experts who will be giving their thoughts on candidates, during that process.
The MCA Awards are decided by over 55 independent judges drawn from academia, the media industry, government, and the private sector. Each submission is assessed, and every judge must sign a strict code of conduct and follow a clear marking and interview process. Among the more than 55 independent judges are Paul Terrington CBE, former Head of Consulting at PwC, and Claire Warren, Editor in Chief of Management Today. Other notable judges include former Young MCA Chair Hassan Kamara, Joe Lynam, Business Editor for Newstalk, former Big Four Partners Karen Briggs and Javid Hamid, Director of Leading4Change Wendy Tipper, Non-Executive Director Mike Fishwick, and Donna Hall CBE, former CEO of Wigan Council.
This announcement comes with an increased number of almost 50 leading consulting firms prepare their written submissions for the next deadline. Helping to tackle that enhanced workload, additional judges include Lord Victor Adebowale CBE, Chair of the NHS Confederation, Dan Figueiredo, Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, and Tracey Boles, Deputy Business Editor of The Times.
Speaking on the announcement, Tamzen Isacsson, MCA CEO, said, “It’s encouraging to see such a significant increase in entries compared to last year as firms compete to reach the finals for the prestigious MCA Awards and demonstrate the impact of their work in partnership with clients. Thankfully, the arduous task of deciding who makes the shortlist and the eventual winners is assigned to a prestigious panel of independent judges from across all sectors.”
The MCA itself is not involved in the decision-making process regarding the awards; it is only involved in setting the categories, defining the judging criteria, and recruiting the panel of judges. The decision-making process involves thousands of papers being marked and scored by the panel, followed by rankings. Once the finalists are announced in May, the judges interview both the individuals and their clients to decide on the winning entry. Each judge signs a strict code of conduct and must declare any potential conflict of interest.
The winners will be declared at a ceremony at the Grosvenor Hotel, on Monday the 10th of November. Earlier in the year, the MCA also announced that the event will once again be hosted by legendary broadcaster Clare Balding.
