US consulting revenues grew 8.1% in wake of Trump’s tax overhaul

Revenues within the US consulting industry grew 8.1% to $63.2bn last year, aided by the reforms that lowered corporate tax as introduced by President Donald Trump.

According to research from Source Global Research, the business tax overhaul was able to free up significant cash for a number of companies that, in turn, invested more readily in consultancy services.

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“We’ve been talking about tax and consulting working together for 10 years, and now it’s really happening,” said Tom Puthiyamadam, US Consulting Competencies Leader & PwC Digital Services Leader.

“In the last three months of 2017 and at the start of 2018, there hasn’t been a supply chain transformation discussion or a growth discussion that doesn’t involve tax reform. It’s transformational lighter fluid.”

The report shows that public sector demand for consultancy services rose considerably, particularly amongst those who specialize in areas of combined technology and operational improvement expertise.

Further, technology became the sector’s fastest-growing line of service for the year, rising 10.6% to $17.3bn.

“Much of the activity that has taken place in the public sector over the past couple of years has focused on achieving efficiency and cost cutting targets by traditional operational improvement methods,” said Fiona Czerniawska, Director of Source Global Research.

“While the ultimate aim didn’t change in 2017, the means of getting there shifted towards more of a digital agenda.”