No longer will we see headlines like this:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2603400/Data-fiasco-firm-PA-Consulting-is-at-heart-of-20bn-ID-card-scheme.htmlMan, losing a contract like that has gotta hurthttp://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/12/tory_libdem_id_scrappings/

Conlib, as you have so wonderfully demonstrated, we will continue to see those exact headlines. Time after time after time after time after time because people like you can't think of anything original to say.

Hi PC !Thanks for joining the discussion.Do you think the immediate axing of PA's biggest contract is a good thing for a consultancy in terminal decline, or is discussion of it just booooooring???;0)CL

Did PA ever get fined for the memory stick loss?

No fine, just loss of contracts at the Home Office.

Conlib - this is why this stuff is boring. If people actual just discussed facts and just once it wouldn't be so bad. This contract is nowhere near PA's biggest and hasn't been for a while now.anon - if you really are interested in old news try going there www.google.co.uk and do a very simple search. Lots of very old facts will come up.

@ PC in PAWow! A contract that has been worth over £100m to the business isn't PA's biggest, and losing it so abruptly will have no impact on PA's profitability or rapid growth?Yep - the arrogance of the PA cheerleaders on here is truly boring.@ anon - no fine yet, but there could be once the ongoing investigations are complete.

Conlib - did you do grammar at school? "Was" means in the past. So no longer.If you follow the simple advice given to the other anon, you will see that the case is closed.Good grief, the standard of user on here really is rather bad.I like how someone giving a positive response on something for any company just has to be a corporate stooge or cheerleader. If someone likes where they work are they not allowed to counter some of the drivel on here?

Most public sector consultancies are going to suffer in the years to come. PA are far more exposed, as we have a number of big ticket central government jobs (such as the ID Cards scheme) that will soon be dropped.PA's troubles are far from over - the decline has only just begun.32 leavers last week alone according to EIS, and our partners really don't give a toffee

Anyone who knows PA and doesn't have their head in the sand knows this must hurt them in the short term, almost as much as if BP were in financial, ethical and political difficulties. Take that comment anyway you want - as PA partners will tell any PCs and MCs shafted by the news.But it doesn't mean PA aren't well positioned to benefit as the UK comes out of recession. If they drop the lazy body shopping of junior staff that ID cards encouraged it can only do them good in the long term

POE bear, instead of just whining, why don't you join the 32? Please don't even think about joining us.

I work in recruiting for one of the Big4, and we are completely inundated with CVs from PA. Most have rubbish public sector generalist experience that we can't use. They don't seem like a happy lot over there.Shame about the ID cards thoughPMSL

Another Big4 - I find it quite sad that anyone would take such great pleasure in someone else's problems.

To Another4 - childish. Public sector experience not relevant to your client? Maybe. Rubbish. Hardly. And your evident pleasure in the misfortune of those at PA is nauseating.

Mars - as a recruiter, do you get a lot more CVs from PA than you do from other organisations? Do PA have the same private sector client list as do McKinsey or the Big4?

I really don't understand the negative attitude towards public sector consulting. I've worked on predominantly private sector assignments in the past, but I have managed a couple of public sector projects.The public sector projects were by far the most difficult to implement as you are faced with: - a culture embedded in inertia and unwillingness to change, - a much greater level of politics and in-fighting, - a scarcity of funding and resources, - an unwillingness to take decisions or responsibility, - a constant supply of blockers and reasons why something can't be done.Private sector assignments have been a doddle in comparison. PS. I don't work for PA

- And the quality of staff and the 9-5 mentality is awful

The last post was not mine!

TOP CONSULTANT - when are you going to do something about having a proper registration/log in for this forum. It is appalling that on a site for professionals, people are allowed to post totally anonymously, as in the example of the Mack post here.You should be in a position to block any user accounts that don't follow common decency on here. I know that registration wouldn't be perfect but at least a post by Mack, for example, would be from the genuine user of that name.

Forum Fan - We believe that there's huge value for our readers in keeping this forum as an anonymous posting facility. The "insider scoops" we all get on what's happening in various firms simply wouldn't appear here if we went down the forced registration route. Of course anonymity does open the system up to abuse and our very limited censorship of the forum is the balance we strike in keeping the value of the forum content without our reputation being harmed by spurious postings. We have had lots of instances of things being posted on here that were malicious, untrue, misrepresentative, etc. and we have to follow up on all such complaints and try our best to steer the right line between openness and legality. You'll appreciate that that's a time consuming, and pretty thankless task, but I'm confident that the balance of opinion from readers here - as witnessed when registration has been suggested in the past - supports this approach. Bryan Hickson / bryan@top-consultant.com

@ Forum Fan... sheesh, do you PA cheerleaders ever lighten up?

Bryan - all I am suggesting is that people must register with you using whatever user name they choose and an email address that can just be a random hotmail one. The important thing is that if I register as Forum Fan using gordonbrown@hotmail.com, nobody else can masquerade as me and post ridiculous and, quite often, unhelpful comments.I, for one, appreciate the efforts you folks put in to remove some of the more inappropriate posts.

Funny though that you only ever complain about posts that are critical of PA

Yet another post misrepresenting me! Very sad that muppets like this are undermining the integrity of the forum!

Mack imposter - I made no mention of the content of posts and nothing in favour of or against any particular company. My point is that we need to be confident that whoever posts is the person they are claiming to be, regardless of what it is they are posting.

Fine - why not give your details to us all, so we know who you are ?? Hmmm... didn't think so

mack, are you seriously as childish as you are coming across on here?

I really don't understand the purpose of sabotaging this thread. For the record, I made the original post regarding public sector consulting and the subsequent posts highlighted with exclamation marks. Mods, your policy has created this mess, please do something about it!

Hmmm.... sweet sound of silence from Forum Fan. I wonder why??

I actually respect Forum Fan for not getting into a petty argument with you. You have nothing of value to add and I can get the level of conversation you favour from my daughter. She's 6 by the way.

You and you 6 yr old daughter sound like intellectual equals Anon / Forum Fan

not me!

I am mack!

I am mack too! (or is that also?)

Thanks for this Bryan."Forum Fan - We believe that there's huge value for our readers in keeping this forum as an anonymous posting facility. The "insider scoops" we all get on what's happening in various firms simply wouldn't appear here if we went down the forced registration route. Of course anonymity does open the system up to abuse and our very limited censorship of the forum is the balance we strike in keeping the value of the forum content without our reputation being harmed by spurious postings. We have had lots of instances of things being posted on here that were malicious, untrue, misrepresentative, etc. and we have to follow up on all such complaints and try our best to steer the right line between openness and legality."This is a great forum where staff from PA, and other consultancies, can happily discuss issues and concerns about their company.It is a real shame that whiners like Forum Fan and mack come on here to try to stifle any form of discussion

I'm one of the 32 recent leavers mentioned above. I had 3 enjoyable years at PA, did some interesting work and met some good people. However, reasons for leaving were: - No real sense of where the company was going. - No real career development. - Felt my skills were going backwards - Got tired of the Partners lies (this is the same everywhere though) - Pay rise of 6% when made MC but IBR rise of 27% didn't sit well with meBut ultimately, much better package and opportunities elsewhere. There are still some good people at PA but they are crying out for a new CEO / EC (same guy for last 18 years is not healthy).

ConLib - Can you please give me examples of where I have tried to stifle any discussions on this forum.

How do we know this is the real Forum Fan? Why not publish your real name or email, so we know who you are