I have a friend (ex Accenture) who is looking to get back into consulting after a period of contracting in other areas. He's interested in working for a small consultancy in the NW region...I work in London so I personally haven't a clue (apart from the obvious big 4 of course)...but I'm wondering if anyone knows good SME IT Consultancies in the NW region that he could potentially approach direct...Thanks!

dunno much about the NW, but i hear that there are quite a few technology parks in telford so that may be a good starting point?also, so as to open up his options, has he considered working for a software company as a project manager or something similar?

Have a look at Detica who recently opened an office in Manchester to facilitate their growth. They are more Sys Integrators and software firm than pure consultancy, but are a decent firm if you like government or financial services work.Believe there are quite a few ex-ACN types whoi have found it a decent home.They are also "smaller" than their total size suggest because they're split into (I think) 3 distinct divisions.

Thanks for the response, really appreciated