- The Times Consultant of the Year and winner of Thought Leader Consultant of the Year goes to Louise Ellis, Arup
- Project of the Year, sponsored by Deltek, is awarded to EY with The Metropolitan Police Service
- Award winners highlight how industry is driving forward the sustainability agenda and improvements in vital public services across the country
- 7 individual winners celebrated with Young Consultant of the Year going to Anju Jacob, Deloitte and Outstanding Achievement Award going to Anna Somaiya from KPMG for her work in promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry...
The MCA has announced the winners for its MCA Awards 2020 at a virtual ceremony which took place tonight in front of consultancies, clients, government officials and media representatives. A range of consultancy firms and their clients were recognised for their award-winning projects and 7 individual winners were selected by the panel of independent judges. The MCA Awards, now in their 23rd year, received record entries this year and the ceremony was held virtually hosted by the BBC presenter Jeremy Vine and featuring an address from the Minister for Business and Industry Nadhim Zahawi MP.
Overall there were 22 award categories with 12 project awards, 7 individual awards and 3 overall awards. There were prizes for Best New Consultancy (JCURV), Strategy (Decision Technology), Commercial Excellence (Arcadis with Southern Water) and Performance Improvement in the Public Sector (PwC).
The Times Consultant of the Year was awarded to Louise Ellis from Arup who impressed the judges in the individual category of Thought Leader Consultant of the Year. Louise was commended for helping to shape the agenda in the high-profile area of water resilience and has experience of working with stakeholders across the world to find solutions to some of the toughest of challenges from drought in Cape Town to unprecedented sea level rises in Miami. In awarding the prize the judges stated that she was “a true ambassador of our industry in all senses and demonstrated commitment to the cause and delivered outstanding achievements”
The overall project of the year and winner of the People category went to EY for its work with the Metropolitan Police Service in designing and delivering a unique leadership programme for 10,000 officers. Its objectives were to improve operational performance, make the Met more inclusive, build public confidence and improve staff morale and engagement and was so successful that it now forms a key part of the Met’s promotion curriculum for new managers and leaders.
Other winning projects included PwC’s work in supporting the growth of the market challenger, Starling Bank and Decision Technology which was winner in the Strategy category.
For those firms working with the public sector, IBM’s work with the Scottish Government in helping deliver social security benefits to the citizens for the first time was recognised in the ‘Change and Transformation in the Public Sector’ category while BAE Applied Systems Intelligence and its work with the Royal Navy, won the category for Data and Innovation in the Public Sector. PwC was also recognised for its work with Bedfordshire Police on how best to align resources with their growing public-protection demands in the ‘Performance Improvement in the Public Sector’ arena.
Individual recognition went to a range of consultants at different stages of their career. Young Consultant of the Year was awarded to Anju Jacob from Deloitte while Lucy Rollinson from Deloitte was Best New Apprentice and Rising Star was Holly Armitage from BAE Systems Applied Intelligence. Outstanding Achievement was awarded to Anna Somaiya from KPMG for her working in promoting diversity and inclusion. Innovation Consultant of the Year went to Jonny Stephens from Bearing Point while Emma Booth from PwC was Team Leader of the Year.
Best New Consultancy, sponsored by Mindbench, was awarded to JCURV, a consultancy which supports clients across all sectors including retail banking, wealth management, insurance, retails and energy.
Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the MCA, said:
“The huge efforts our industry is making to deliver positive benefits for the economy and society is reflected in the range of projects which have been recognised in this year’s MCA Awards. Our individual winners represent the best in management consultancy and as well as being accomplished consultants serving clients’ needs, they are driving real change in their industry improving diversity, shaping the sustainability agenda and highlighting the importance of mental well-being. Congratulations to all the finalists who participated in this year’s awards.”
Speaker at the awards, Nadhim Zahawi MP, Minister for Business and Industry, added:
“The UK consultancy sector is a valuable part of our economy, not only through its contribution to GDP, but the support it offers to firms across the country to become more productive and efficient.
“While the pandemic has presented its challenges, I believe the sector can continue to thrive, helping to power our national economic recovery.”
A full list of the MCA Awards 2020 winners can be found at
www.mca.org.uk/awards
