The Silicon Review ^Asia

“A consulting firm not only teaches how to build a business but also to improve it.”

Using the expertise of their niche, consulting firms look at each client's case individually, analyzing the task at hand, and offering impartial analysis. For example, while a business consultant might look at bottom-line revenues and employee productivity, an image consultant has an entirely different set of responsibilities. That consultant might work to objectively analyze the flow of her client's tweets and likes on social media to gauge what's happening with his image. She might measure media coverage by looking for keywords as they relate to an incident or an appearance.

People and businesses use consulting firms as their content and strategy experts. Whether you're a celebrity trying to rebuild your brand after a Tiger Woods-size public image debacle or a business navigating the bid process to gain administrative work, sometimes you need outside resources. Consultants bring their knowledge and expertise of a particular industry to the forefront as they assess company issues and offer strategic solutions to their clients.

One such pioneer in the consulting field, which is creating a sensation, is The Barton Partnership.

The Barton Partnership is a specialist provider of Strategic, Operational, and M&A talent both on a permanent and independent consulting basis in London, Europe, New York, and Asia. The company has clients from various sectors, which mainly include FTSE listed and Fortune 500 companies across all industries/industries, SME's, Strategic, Innovation & Management Consulting firms (large and boutique), Global Financial Services, Private Equity, and Venture Capital organizations. The network represents talent from Analyst to Partner/MD level across all disciplines and sectors associated with Strategy, Transformation & Change, and M&A.

Company's Independent Consulting business offers rapid response and deployment of strategy professionals across all sectors with project duration ranging from one week to twelve months. The key to their success lies in the experienced talent we have acquired ourselves. The team consists of former tier-one Strategy Consultants working alongside recruiters that have operated in this market for nearly 20 years, which gives us a clear and distinct advantage in understanding the needs of the people they work with, be an employer seeking new talent or an individual looking for a career change.

Operational sectors

Commerce & Industry

The Commerce & Industry team services a broad range of sector verticals to build and replace corporate groups permanently or provide independent consultants for short-term projects.  The permanent team alone has completed over 350 searches over the past ten years. We have a broad client base ranging from start-ups, small-medium sized enterprises, Private Equity backed businesses to FTSE, and Fortune 500 organizations.

The firm works with all the sectors, with specialist consultants covering Retail, Consumer Goods, Emerging Markets, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, TMT, Energy & Utilities, Industrial Goods & Services, and Education. Since established the firm's independent consulting proposition, we have managed to support over 150 different corporate clients on a broad range of projects at all levels. The independent consultant network of 3000+ is exclusively comprised of former strategy consultants from a variety of top tier consultancies to specialist boutiques.

Professional Services

The key to our success within Professional Services is having loyal, long-standing relationships with our clients where we can support them at a variety of levels across their business and understand the requirements and key drivers for them in the market. The Barton Partnership works with a range of companies, from those who are specialists in either a specific sector or function to broad, global strategy or multi-disciplinary consultancies. With their smaller consultancy clients, they act as the right partner to support their client's growth, often playing a pivotal role in their transition from small business to a bigger brand in the market.

The firm crafts and modifies the message to market as we tap into candidate pools previously not considered achievable by them. They have worked from consultant through to partner level within these businesses. They can tailor our approach to fit in with what our clients need at that point in their development, usually working on an exclusive or rolling retainer basis. The Independent consulting team also acts as an extended bench providing flexibility and a trusted source of short-term delivery.

With them having larger clients, they have built new teams within their well-established businesses where they have wanted to attract a different type of candidate to the company. Their specialism in the market and agile recruitment model means we are still able to adapt our approach and work with the managed-service providers or larger recruitment teams and support them across core functions of their business.

Financial Services

Over the last ten years, The Barton Partnerships Financial Services team has served a range of clients across Investment & Retail Banking, Cards & Payments, Wealth & Asset Management and Insurance, in the UK, Europe, and New York. As the sector evolves, they have been increasingly engaged in helping Challenger Banks and the FinTech's source the best talent.

They typically support their clients on mandates to hire Heads of Strategy [at Group & Business Unit level], Heads of Internal Consulting, Heads of Transformation, COOs, Chiefs of Staff, and more Operational/Commercial senior-level roles in operating units of organizations. As a specialist in the strategy, transformation, and M&A market, the firm is also able to support the build-out of the teams below the senior hires. Many of their clients work with us across all our geographical locations and the permanent team can access a talent pool of over 9000 Financial Services professionals, many of whom have experience from both consulting and industry.

Their team combines over thirty years of experience in the sector, not just from our business but from other search and recruitment firms. This, coupled with the ex-Consultants who also work within the firm, make the Financial Services proposition indeed one of the leaders in the market.

Private Equity

The Barton Partnership has had considerable success supporting clients in the Private Equity community, hiring current and ex-strategy consultants and M&A advisors into a variety of different roles. We have worked with over 40 funds in the UK and Europe, ranging across the spectrum from more considerable buy-out funds, through to the mid-market and VC and venture funds.

On the Independent Consulting side, the company typically works on projects across:

• Strategy – 3/5 year plans, organization, diagnostics, Board advisory, exec assistant to C-Suite
• Transformation – Programme management office, change, pricing optimization, sales, and marketing transformation, digital
• M&A – Pre-due-diligence, due-diligence support, commercial due diligence, transaction support, post-merger integration

The firm tracks individual's careers from when they start in consulting and as they move out into industry, ensuring we are well placed to deliver on searches where the nature of the requirement is often for candidates to have 'real world' experience in addition to their consulting backgrounds. They execute on searches across all levels from Analyst to Partner. The key to their success in Private Equity has been the trust they have built up with clients over several years of successfully delivering results. The company understands and appreciates the Private Equity mindset and approach is different from other sectors where they are work.

Consulting solutions furnished

Independent consulting

The Barton Partnership provides consultants for projects suited to individuals (often smaller projects big consulting firms wouldn't get out of bed for) through their curated network of 2200 independents across Europe. Their consultants have a combination of consulting and real-world experience to offer pragmatic advice on Strategy, Transformation, and M&A.

Since starting in 2014, they have completed over 500 projects for over 250 clients across Europe from junior analytical strategy support through managing transactions to leading major transformation programs. Over 75% of their clients have already returned for further assistance and 98% say we met or exceeded their expectations.

The firm takes the time to define the project requirements with our clients and suggests two or three consultants' networks, which they believe could deliver the work but leave the choice to the client to find the best cultural fit.

Permanent recruiting

The specific goal of The Barton Partnership is to establish critical long-term working partnerships with organizations, giving them access to the best talent available in the market. The firm strives to fully understand the market in which its clients and customers operate the business, the challenges the clients are facing and the requirements to deliver the right individuals at the right time. The secret to their success isn't just in the identification of the right individuals but ensuring the 'fit' is correct. When they work on their assignment, the ethos has always been that they would instead send three profile CVs for individuals that have been met with by one of their very own consultants and fully qualified to ensure their interest in the position and company, rather than 5-6 profiles of people that could be relevant.

Consulting projects

In addition to their Recruitment and Independent Consulting services, they also offer the ability to take on consulting projects through an in-house team of consultants. The team is run by Nick Adlam (a former Bain Manager who ran a $100M business) and Paul Fodor (a former Boston Consulting Group Manager who ran his consulting firm for many years). The firm takes on the full liability for scoping and delivering a project utilizing a small or large team to suit the client requirements and can operate across Europe.

The formidable leader behind the eminence of The Barton Partnership

Nicholas is the founder and also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of The Barton Partnership. He founded the firm in late 2007 and has succeeded in building a niche executive recruitment firm with an excellent reputation within the Strategy, Transformation, and M&A arena. From a standing start, he has made a team of professionals renowned not only for their talent acquisition skills but also their subject matter expertise with offices in London, Europe, New York, and Asia.

Throughout his career, he has specialized in, and successfully executed, on over 250 senior retained and contingent assignments across Commerce, Financial Services and Professional Services both in the UK and Internationally.

In his spare time (when such a thing exists), Nicholas likes to spend time with his family, renovating his house (which will be a never-ending project), is an avid film watcher, and keeps fit by playing tennis and going to the gym.

"The specific goal of The Barton Partnership is to establish key long-term working partnerships with organizations, giving them access to the best talent available in the market."