“Business consulting involves individuals, whether self-employed or employed, individually or collectively using their knowledge, experience and analytical and/or problem-solving skills to add value into a wide variety of organisations, and therefore to the UK economy as a whole, within a framework of appropriate and relevant professional standards, disciplines and ethics.”

Business consultants can operate as specialists or generalists, but it is client requirements that dictate which skills and expertise are most appropriate and the situations in which to use a consultant.

Why Business Consulting?

Many consultants are selected to fulfill business needs that cannot be undertaken successfully by the client due to lack of time or other resources. The client may have greater vertical sector or functional expertise than the consultant, but the consultant can provide a powerful business benefit and improve their clients’ performance. Consultants can use their independence to manage difficult or political situations on behalf of their client, often using change management expertise and human resource knowledge.

In other cases, consultants may be hired or selected by clients for their technical expertise or to gain an independent or innovative overview in order to identify areas of improvement or development, stimulating the client to change or adopt desired practices.

If you need guidance on selecting and managing consultants, visit our purchasing consultancy section.

What Do Consultants Do?

Whether specialists or generalists, consultants typically provide services across a variety of industry sectors in:

• strategy
• programme management
• operations 
• human resources
• change management

Consultants may work within firms that specialise in consulting or may be part of larger organisations that offer wider services such as accountancy, audit, and IT development.   Business support professionals, who provide advice through government-funded initiatives, utilise consulting skills by delivering knowledge, expertise and guidance mainly to start-ups and SMEs.

Services can typically range from existing business support and development to skills assessment (e.g. Train to Gain Skills Brokers).  These specialist advisers have a proven track record of providing effective services to business, as Skills Brokers are trained to meet national quality standards.

Future Trends

Business consultants are increasingly asked to perform functions throughout client organisations beyond simply providing expertise to management.  Many work closely with client staff to enhance performance long after the client-consultant contract has ended, functioning as mentors and/or advisers.

Business counselling, coaching and strong interpersonal skills will become increasingly important competences for the successful consultant.