CMI and IC awards 2011
Square Peg International, a Business Consulting Practice from Surrey, was a double winner at this year's Institute of Consulting Awards on 20th October in London. Proving that bigger isn't necessarily better, this boutique consultancy was named Practice of the Year and its director, Phoebe Dunn won the coveted title of Consultant of the Year.
Chartered Management Institute (CMI) announces today that with immediate effect its Chief Executive, Ruth Spellman, has decided to leave the organisation and pursue new career opportunities.
Ruth has been Chief Executive for three years and in that time has overseen a return to growth in membership, a successful rebranding and profile raising programme, the launch of Campus CMI, the development of new partnerships and a renewal of CMI’s status as a leading professional body, setting the agenda for managers and leaders and influencing government policy.
Internal consultants often have a critical role in delivering change for their organisations. On the 12th April Professor Andrew Sturdy from the University of Bristol and Dr Nick Wylie from Oxford Brookes University presented a unique overview of internal consultancy operations in the UK at the renowned Cass Business School in London.
The Institute of Consulting welcomed in the new year by hosting the annual IC Consulting Awards 2010 at the five-star Landmark Hotel in London in which 200 people from across the profession lit up the ballroom to celebrate achievements across a number of categories.
Following on from Francis Maude's announcement that Government aims to use SMEs for up to 25% of its supply contracts, a number of MPs have raised this issue in the House of Commons. Chi Onwurah MP (Lab, Newcastle upon Tyne) asked how the Cabinet Office would ensure that each Government department fulfilled the pledge, to which Francis Maude, Cabinet Office Minister, replied: "We fully expect that Departments will take the actions needed to fulfil the 25% aspiration, supported by the measures we announced on 1 November.
There has been a lot in the news recently about changes to Government policy on its use of external consultants, and about Government procurement policy. We understand that most Government departments have dramatically reduced, or completely stopped, the use of external consultants and this has caused a serious reduction in business for some IBC members. We also understand that the Office of Efficiency and Reform, based in the Cabinet Office under Frances Maude, is looking at ways of making Government procurement policy more efficient and cost-effective.
The Cabinet Office has announced plans to open up Government to SMEs. Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude has said Government aims to use SMEs for 25% of all Government supply contracts, across all Government departments. The commitment, made at the Summit for Small Business on 1 November, came together with other measures announced by the Cabinet Office aimed at increasing access to Government business for small and medium sized businesses.
The Cabinet Office has posted a copy of its internal structure on its website. From this you can see that the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is now part of the Efficiency and Reform section, headed by Ian Watmore. To see the organogram, click here: http://download.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/organogram/org-chart.pdf
A similar organisational chart has been posted for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/docs/b/bisorg-oct2010-final.pdf (management board and directors) http://transparency.number10.gov.uk/resources/bis-chart.pdf
Staying on the Government’s use of consultants theme, on 14 October the National Audit Office (NAO) published a critical report on the Government’s use of consultants, management of consultants and use of interim staff.
- 1 of 2
- ››
