UK’s Leading Management Consultants 2026: the ratings
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This is the ninth annual listing of the UK management consulting firms most recommended by their clients and peers, compiled by the Financial Times and Statista.
Thousands of consultants and their clients were invited to take part, resulting in 823 ratings for 169 consultants in 16 sectors and for 15 types of specialist work. Ten consulting networks are also rated.
The results are based on three surveys of consultants’ clients and peers, carried out by Statista, with gold, silver or bronze ratings awarded to firms and networks in different categories according to how often they were recommended.
This year, Accenture, Bain & Co and McKinsey received an award in every category. Deloitte has the highest number of gold ratings at 25, while Accenture has 22.
When respondents were asked how optimistic they were about the growth of the UK management consultancy industry over the next three years, 47 per cent were optimistic, while 28 per cent were neutral. On recruitment in the next 18 months, 58 per cent expected to hire more consultants, while 37 per cent expected this to be unchanged.
About 56 per cent of respondents considered an economic downturn in Britain to be the biggest threat in the next three years. And 73 per cent of consultants thought artificial intelligence would be the largest growth area in the same period.
A more detailed methodology can be found below the tables.
UK’s leading management consultants
This article is part of the UK’s leading management consultants Special Report.
Other articles include:
Firms refocus on human skills
The surge in European defence work
Comment on the effect of reputational scandals on firms
Sectors listed: aerospace & defence; automotive; chemicals & pharmaceuticals; construction & infrastructure; consumer goods & retail; energy, utilities & environment; financial institutions & services; healthcare & life sciences; insurance; internet, media & entertainment; IT, technology & telecommunications; oil & gas; other industrial & metals; private equity; public & social sector; travel, transportation & logistics
Categories listed: artificial intelligence; data analytics & big data; digital transformation; finance, risk & compliance; innovation, growth & new business models; IT — implementation; IT — strategy; marketing, brand & pricing; mergers & acquisitions; operations, procurement & supply chain; organisation & change; people & performance; sales & CRM; strategy; sustainability & energy transition
Methodology and notes
Market definition
Mainstream management consulting firms, IT consultancies, advisory branches of auditing firms, consultancy branches of technology companies, and consulting networks were all eligible.
Methodology
The list is based on three surveys: one among peers (partners and executives from consultancies evaluating other consultancies); and two among clients (evaluating consultancies they have worked with). The surveys were conducted online by Statista.
Peer survey
Building on last year’s methodology, a longlist of more than 1,700 firms was used as a basis for the latest survey among peers. To update the longlist, Statista used recommendations from previous years and these sources: lists from associations (eg Management Consultancies Association); consulting directories (eg Consultingcase101); and company databases.
The list of consulting partners and executives was compiled using research conducted mainly on firms’ websites. It was also possible to register for the survey on ft.com. The sample included more than 7,000 partners and executives of UK firms.
Invitations to the survey were sent via email containing a personalised link. This took place from June 16 to August 15 2025.
Partners and executives could make recommendations in 16 sectors and for 15 consulting services, and could recommend consulting networks. Respondents were also able to name consultancies or networks they would refrain from recommending.
An autocomplete function was available to assist in selecting a consultancy or network and respondents could recommend any consultancy that did not appear in the autocomplete list, or add a negative evaluation. A score was given to each firm based on the number of positive and negative recommendations they received. Self-recommendations were excluded.
Client surveys
Two online surveys were then conducted among about 2,500 senior executives who had used management consultancies in the past four years. They either registered themselves for the surveys on ft.com between June 16 and August 15 2025, or were recruited through an online access panel between September 1 and 13 2025.
Respondents were asked to indicate the sectors or consulting services in which they had collaborated with a management consultancy in the past four years. They were then asked to recommend firms by using autofill or adding names. For each sector or consulting service they specified, the respondents were given a list of recommended consultancies for evaluation.
In the survey of clients recruited through the online access panel, the quality of the firms and networks was scored using a five-point scale (very good to very poor). The evaluations “very good”, “good” and “acceptable” counted as recommendations (“very good” counted as one recommendation, “good” and “acceptable” carried a lower weight). The evaluations “poor” and “very poor” counted against consultancies and networks. Reputation is typically built over several years and this list aims to reflect that longevity. Therefore, last year’s results were taken into account, attributed a low weighting.
Recommendations
In each sector and consulting service, firms were sorted according to the number of recommendations (taking into account a reduction for negative evaluations).
The groups were placed in the classes below, based on the average number of recommendations in that sector or service:
• The top 10 per cent of consulting firms (based on the total number of recommendations) among all awarded companies in each sector and service area received a gold rating.
• Consulting firms outside the top 10 per cent, but still within the top 40 per cent (based on the total number of recommendations) among all awarded companies in each sector and service area, received a silver rating.
• Consulting firms outside the top 40 per cent, that received at least the average number of recommendations of all companies with at least one recommendation, received a bronze rating.
• Those with insufficient recommendations were excluded. Consultancies are sorted alphabetically in each class.
Disclaimer
The ranking comprises firms with a sufficient number of recommendations; a mention is positive and is a vote of confidence from the market. The ranking was created through a complex process. The quality of consultancies not included is not disputed.
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