The Effect of Brexit on the Management Consulting Industry for UK- and EU-based Firms

Abstract This thesis seeks to investigate how Brexit has affected the management consulting industry for United Kingdom and European Union firms. The topic is of importance to the EU/UK management consulting community since Brexit caused disruption which in turn created an opportunity to analyze how this created costs and opportunity for firms. The study examines the relationship by first summarizing the events of Brexit through an annual order to identify which years presented the most change. The hypotheses of this study states that Brexit will have a negative effect on management consulting firm’s operations. It also states that there may be a positive effect for some firms that could profit from Brexit as a business, such as opportunity for new clientele. These changes are then identified through a close examination of secondary resources including papers, articles, and scholarly resources. There is also an analysis of primary source interviews conducted through the course of 2020-2021. The findings of this research were overshadowed by COVID-19’s negative effects on the management consulting industry in the UK. However, I do find evidence of both negative and positive effects; the results of the interviews shed light on the mechanisms. Specifically, I found that some firms were able to profit from Brexit by absorbing new clientele in need of Brexit specialists, and that there was a drive towards a need for new technology, specifically in the financial services sector.