NEWS3 August 2009
UK— One third of independent consultants have seen their fees per project decline, while 41% say they have reduced their daily charges in response to the recession.
A survey of over 200 members of the Independent Consultants Group (ICG) found more than half expecting a reduction in turnover and profits this year versus last. Thirty per cent envisioned no change.
ICG chairman Andrew Smith said the mixed picture was to be expected given that consultants “tend to be more concentrated on a specific sector or technique”.
“Some will be having a good time of it, some will be finding it tough,” he said.
Respondents to the survey were overwhelmingly of the view that clients were cutting back on research and marketing spend, with three-quarters experiencing longer waits for projects to be commissioned while half reported seeing more projects being cancelled.
But even with less work to go around only a fifth of independents say they are having to pitch more against agency competitors. Smith, meanwhile, said there was no indication that the state of the economy had made clients more likely to contract with agencies than independents.
“As a sector,” he said, “we feel we have a lot to offer. We have a good value proposition, with low overheads, and we think it is a very good time for clients to consider using independent consultants.”