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04 February 2025
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Ejaaz
Editor @ KnowPro
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Here’s a recap of January’s larger M&A, concerning UK HQ’d firms or those with a noteworthy connection to the UK market.
CGI has agreed to acquire BJSS, a UK-based technology consultancy, for an undisclosed sum (though likely to be north of £1B). The deal adds over 2,400 professionals to CGI's UK operations (taking CGI's UK team to 9,000 people and 90,000+ globally), expanding its presence across 26 locations. BJSS reported £300M in revenues as of April 2023. The acquisition aims to enhance CGI's capabilities in key sectors like retail, health, and government, leveraging BJSS's expertise in software engineering and AI.
GlobalData, a UK-based analytics firm, has acquired Deallus, a London-headquartered competitive intelligence provider in the life sciences sector. The deal was funded through GlobalData's new £340 million debt facility. Deallus, with over 80 employees and 20 years of expertise, specialises in strategic intelligence for the life sciences industry. This acquisition marks GlobalData's fourth in the second half of 2024. Last month, GlobalData announced the acquisition of Celent from Marsh McLennan - a financial services consultancy focused on digital transformation & tech strategy.
ERM, a UK-headquartered sustainability consultancy backed by KKR, has agreed to acquire the environmental division of NewFields Companies, a US-based firm. This acquisition adds approximately 110 experts to ERM's global workforce of over 8,000.
North Highland, a global change and transformation consultancy (with c.400 UK employees) has acquired The Bridge, a Dallas-based technology and strategy firm. The deal, announced earlier this month, adds roughly 160 consultants to North Highland's team. The Bridge specialises in Data & AI, Cloud & Product, and Digital Experience solutions. This acquisition bolsters North Highland's digital transformation capabilities, particularly in the US market. The combined entity is set to offer enhanced services in digital transformation, to serve clients across Retail, CPG, Financial Services and Healthcare sectors.
Interpath, the UK-based financial advisory firm, has acquired Kerkhoff, a procurement and supply chain consultancy focused on the DACH region. This acquisition expands Interpath's footprint in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Kerkhoff's 60-strong team will join Interpath's existing workforce of 760 employees. Seven senior members from Kerkhoff will assume roles as managing directors within Interpath. This move is part of Interpath's broader European expansion strategy, following its 2024 entry into the French market with the acquisition of KPMG’s French restructuring unit. (Interpath was formerly KPMG’s UK restructuring unit, and was carved out in a deal negotiated by KPMG and HIG Europe in 2021.)
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Unless otherwise specified, all analysis refers to the period dated 27th - 31st January.
Here were the top departments & public bodies that awarded consulting-related contracts, ranked by award value 👇
Last week saw activity being driven largely by the award of a 9-figure contract from the NHS, to Accenture. The contract was for the build, run and maintenance of 2 NHS’ apps - its e-referral services app and NHS Wayfinder]. The contract is due to end in July of this year.
Of particular note is the SME firm Modular Data, which was awarded a three-year, £9.9M contract by the MoJ for the support of HMPPS data hubs. Modular Data was established in 2021 and has a total headcount of 12 employees, with three of those being company directors. Modular Data operates a federated data platform that allows businesses and public sector organisations to unify and better utilise their cross-organisational data. Forvis Mazars was awarded a £1.3M contract for the planning and delivery of health assurance inspections by the CCS.
Consultancy Providers By Awarded Value in January
Of the 9 contracts tracked, here’s how they were broken down (many contracts included a combination of service types) 👇
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In January, we’ve tracked 77 consulting executive moves across UK firms. Here’s what we’ve found 👇
Headlines
Of these 50 promotions. 20 of these were made to the Director level, 28 promotions were made at Partner/MD level and 2 were promoted to organisational management.
Here were the levels to which promotions took place:
BCG promoted 11 professionals in total - 3 were promoted to Managing Partner, and the other 8 to Partner. Capgemini made 8 promotions, moving 7 individuals to Director. At AlixPartners, 2 promotions focused on private equity consulting, while the other 2 were in organisational and operating model consulting.
Alongside Baringa's internal promotion of 3 Directors, it poached 2 Partners (a retail Partner from EY and a digital transformation Partner from Accenture). It saw 2 additional Director-level poaches too: one from from KPMG and another from PA Consulting.
Promotions by Firms
PwC saw the exit of 3 Directors and 2 Partners in January, across a variety of uncorrelated service lines. Accenture saw the departure of 2 MD/Partner-level executives, and EY also saw the departure of 2 MD/Partner-level executives.
Firms that saw the most executives leave:
Baringa saw the addition of 2 Partners & 2 Directors in January - all with significant career experience in transformation & digital transformation.
Firms that saw the most executives joiners:
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