Client Newsletter - Value for Money

Welcome to Skillfair's client newsletter. You've received this email because you're registered to receive our client newsletter, with ideas and information helping you find the best consultancy and specialist advice.

Our annual fee rate survey closed last week and after analysing the responses - which came from well over 1500 consultants across all specialisms and all areas of the UK- there's good news for clients. Rates on average were 8% down during 2009 compared to 2008, although some specialisms such as Change Management and Coaching held up much better than others. Rates vary significantly between skill areas so if you're considering using consultants or freelancers it's well worth checking the detailed results to get an idea of the right level.

Rates reported by consultants are significantly lower if they mainly work through agencies, about 15-20% on average as you would expect. If you want to make sure of getting value for money in any consultancy work, then you might want to think about coming direct to the independent market. You could save a substantial amount and we generally find that we can put clients in touch with the right independents very quickly, however obscure the requirements. Just advertise your project directly on to Skillfair or call us and we'll help you through the process.

Please note that as a client member of Skillfair you don't get access to any of the consultancy or service projects that we send out to our consultant members. If you think that hearing about consulting and service projects from a mix of private and public sector clients would be useful, please contact us and we'll switch you across to our consultant database.