Our market continues to go through a period of consolidation with EC Harris being the latest consultancy acquired by an overseas company – Arcadis. They join the fate of Davis Langdon and Halcrow acquired by AECOM and CH2M Hill respectively in the past year or so. These are significant changes to the consultancy landscape and there are likely to be further changes in the coming months, with at least 3 major QS firms under pressure and looking for an exit route – no doubt these will play out over the next few months.
What this means is that the market is moving towards two tiers: the larger multidisciplinary and the smaller niche SME firms. The question is, what does the market and our clients want from their consultancy advisors? I appreciate that on mega infrastructure projects the Multi Disc firms will tick all the right boxes and provide the scale required to take on the delivery risk, but there will continue to be a healthy market for SMEs who enjoy a more intimate relationship and tailor their offerings to meet the specific needs of their clients.
We continue to be one of the larger SMEs in the market place and I am confident that we can take advantage of the consolidated market and secure new clients seeking a more intimate relationship with a business just like ours.
