You don't have to be Charles Darwin to know that survival is about adapting to your circumstances better than your rivals. Roxane McMeeken looks at how firms have changed their strategies since our last consultants survey, when the market was booming, while starting on page 50, Martin Hewes counts down this year's top 250. Last year, Building's annual snapshot of the industry's consultants was all about the "staggering success" of the sector. Times were good - consultants were employing more staff than the previous year and fees income had risen a massive 24. This year, the mood is considerably more sober as the future of these one time high-rollers looks decidedly uncertain. It's come as a bit of a shock. As Keith Clarke, chief executive of Atkins (which is once again Britain's biggest consultant), says: "We had no idea the sub-prime crisis would take us to the brink of capitalism's survival." Not everything is black and bleak - fees have gone up and acquisitions are still fairly frequent - but the slowdown in the domestic private sector is a bitter blow. Now, hopes are pinned on the public sector and overseas markets. Will this be enough to stop firms falling on hard times? And who has the right strategy to survive?
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