CMC and Methods join forces

Mar 5 2008 by Sion Barry, Western Mail

TWO leading consultancies with a combined turnover of £60m have joined forces to create a new change management service throughout the UK.

CMC Partnership, based in Monmouthshire and Methods Consulting, headquartered in London, are among the fastest- growing companies in their field.

They specialise in helping public and private bodies manage large-scale reorganisation, involving people, technology and processes, as part of strategic improvement programmes.

The link opens the door for CMC to make its expertise available to a wider group of public organisations, through Methods Consulting’s position on the Office of Government Commerce’s Catalist framework.

Catalist is a catalogue of approved suppliers designed to provide advice and secure greater value-for-money in the public sector’s multi-billion-pound spending plans.

With a combined client list that includes nearly every main government department in the UK, agencies such as the DVLA and Office for National Statistics, plus local authorities, the police, BBC and a host of private businesses, the pairing is set to become a formidable force across the country.

The consultancies say demand for their services is being driven by continuing change in many organisations – especially those with large workforces – where substantial savings are often possible by working smarter and making better use of technology.

Methods Consulting is one of the largest consultancies in the central government, defence and healthcare sectors and a leading centre for programme management and business transformation services. Its advice to a wide variety of authorities on procurement alone has saved the public purse many tens of millions of pounds.

CMC, which serves Wales from its main office near Monmouth, is also an experienced supplier to the public sector. Its clients include Vosa – the Vehicle & Operator Services Agency – the former Defence Communications Service Agency and the Welsh Assembly Government. It has a team of more than 100 staff and consultants.

The two companies will retain their separate identities but bring their respective strengths together for joint bids for contracts in Wales and elsewhere and will be recruiting more regional consultants.

Rhiannon Cooke, director of CMC Partnership, said, “The standards, philosophy and achievements of both Methods and CMC are remarkably similar and it is rare to find such a good fit between two organisations operating in the same field. We have a similar approach on service delivery which has served our clients well, making a real difference to their performances.”

Mark Thompson of Methods Consulting said, “Between us, we have been involved in a wide range of organisations and are fortunate to have built up a store of best practice knowledge that we can use to benefit the client.”