Press release:

First Group Of Management Consultants Given Prestigious Chartered Award

Monday 13 January 2020

Ann Franke with the first group of Chartered Management Consultant graduates

The first group of management consultants from across ten firms have been granted Chartered status and presented with their certificates at a ceremony in London. This key milestone has been achieved in the pilot phase of the development of the Chartered Management Consultant Award (ChMC) which has been created in a joint partnership between the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), the trade association for the UK’s leading consulting firms, and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), which was appointed by the Privy Council as the Awarding Body. The project has been developed for the purposes of setting and maintaining the highest standards in the management consulting profession, and creating an award which recognises consistent and high levels of professional development and achievement.

Eleven management consultants achieved Chartered status after a robust independent assessment process. The successful candidates work for a diverse range of leading consulting firms including IBM, PwC, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, EY, KPMG, PPL Consulting, Arcadis, Mott Macdonald, Atkins and Gobeyond Partners. All of these firms, large and small, have been involved in building and shaping the ChMC award with the CMI and MCA.

All ten firms have also worked towards securing professional accreditation for their firms’ in-house consultancy training programmes against the Management Consulting Competency Framework. This accreditation provides additional confidence that their in-house training is rigorous and has been benchmarked against an independent professional standard.

The Chartered Management Consultant Award is underpinned by the Management Consulting Competency Framework. This gives individual consultants the opportunity to benchmark their development and capabilities against an independent professional standard. The framework looks at personal and professional development as well as knowledge and understanding in a number of areas, including clients & markets; industry & sector specialisms; stakeholder & relationship development; operational delivery and strategy, analysis & insight. All are underpinned by values, ethics and behaviour.

The second wave of the pilot is already underway with a number of firms participating, including 11 MCA member firms.The award is expected to be fully launched in September 2020 and will be open to all firms and individuals interested in achieving Chartered Status.

Ann Francke, Chief Executive of the CMI, added:

The launch of the Chartered Management Consultant Award (ChMC) heralds a new era for management consultants wanting to attain professional recognition of their leadership qualities, and will give clients greater confidence in the services they’re buying. Practitioners earning Chartered status will benefit from showing that they’re at the top of their profession, putting them in pole position in their organisations. CMI is especially pleased to see the first wave of recipients of the Chartered Management Consultant Award (ChMC) and we congratulate them on achieving this mark of excellence.

Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the MCA, said:

Our members are proud of the high standards of professional development and achievement of their people and we are pleased that for the first time this is being recognised through the Chartered Management Consultant Award. We have made great progress in the pilot stages of developing this award and over 1500 candidates from ten firms are starting on the route to Chartered this month. Ultimately, our aim is to secure greater recognition for the professionalism of management consulting and ensure that it is valued and respected by the industry as well as by clients seeking professional and qualified consulting support.

The first recipients of the Chartered Management Award (ChMC) are:

  • Louise O’Sullivan, IBM
  • Alice Black, EY
  • Nigel Slater, KPMG
  • Scott Boyd, Mott MacDonald
  • Russ Dickinson, Gobeyond
  • Greg Bradley, Arcadis
  • Gary Mitchell, Atkins
  • Andy Lethbridge, BAE Systems
  • Charlies Newhouse, BAE Systems
  • Simon Morioka, PPL Consulting
  • Howard Scott, PwC and MCA President

Further information on ChMC

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Notes to editors

The Management Consultancies Association (MCA):

The MCA is the representative body for the UK’s leading management consulting firms. For over 60 years, the MCA has been the voice of the consulting industry, promoting the value of consulting to business, the public sector, media commentators and the general public. The MCA's mission is to promote the value of management consultancy for the economy and society as a whole. The MCA's member companies comprise over 50% of the UK consulting industry work with over 90 of the top FTSE 100 companies and almost all parts of the public sector. The UK consulting industry is amongst the best in the world and a vital part of the business landscape. Click to see the full list of current MCA members see link.

Compliance with the MCA's tough entry criteria and adherence to the principles of Consulting Excellence means that MCA member companies are widely acknowledged to provide high quality services to their clients. Many of their achievements are recognised in the annual MCA Awards.

Chartered Management Institute (CMI)

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) works with business and education to inspire people to unleash their potential and become skilled, confident and successful managers and leaders.

With a wealth of practical qualifications, events and networking opportunities on offer throughout the UK and Asia-Pacific, CMI helps people boost their career prospects and connect them with other ambitious professionals in any industry and sector.

In fact, CMI has more than 79,000 people training to be better managers right now.

Backed by a unique Royal Charter, CMI is the only organisation allowed to award Chartered Manager status – the ultimate management accolade.

CMI’s thought leadership, research and online resources provide practical insight on critical issues for a 132,000 plus membership community and anyone looking to improve their skills, nurture high-performing teams and help pave the way for the next generation of managers and leaders.