Boutique consulting firms are thriving during the pandemic by offering the services of the large branded firms at rates that are up to 60 per cent cheaper.

These smaller firms, typically run by alumni of the major firms, sell themselves as being top-heavy with seasoned professionals and with fewer overhead costs.

Business at Partners in Performance, one of the few medium-sized consulting firms in the sector, has also boomed amid the pandemic.

The firm, founded in 1996 by former McKinsey consultant Skipp Williamson, uses a performance-based fee structure where a portion of the value delivered – through cost-savings or extra income – is shared with clients.

This value-based model is typically priced between the cost of the MBB firms and the big four consulting firms.

Consultants at Partners in Performance are typically alumni of the strategy firms who also have industry experience and costs at the firm are tightly managed. The pitch is they improve the skills of client staff and then share in the upside with clients.

Williamson says that the pandemic had led to a 30 per cent boost in sales of the firm’s services in Australia.

“Our earlier work was predominantly helping organisations respond to COVID, and [this] has since shifted towards productivity improvement and cost reduction as organisations working through what they need to remain viable and set themselves up for the future,” she says.