IT'S A BIT LIKE STAR WARS'

摘要

It's a bit like Star Wars really," jokes Keith Howells, chairman of global engineer Mott MacDonald. "The rebels ganging together against the evil Empire." He's talking about the "nuclear arms race" happening in the consultancy sector - the trend towards consolidation among firms and the growth of the supersized consultant. The "rebels" in Howells' analogy are independent, employee-owned consultants such as his own. The "evil Empire" consists of the large listed corporates that Howells claims are close to crowding out the market. The 58-year-old clearly does not want for fighting spirit - Mott MacDonald was embroiled in the UK construction industry's biggest ever law suit over its work on Multiplex's Wembley stadium before settling out of court (see box, overleaf). But behind his "evil Empire" joke is a serious dilemma -should the second biggest consultant in the UK merge to compete with the listed giants? Or is it happy to stay independent?