New survey says Consultancy fee rates are down 8%

The Online consultant network, Skillfair, reports that the recession is biting in the independent consultancy and freelance market.

Skillfair's annual fee rate survey was sent to over 40,000 independent professionals, covering every specialism from PR to Engineering, across the whole of the UK, giving a comprehensive snapshot of the sector.

The average daily fee rate reported for 2009 was £523, an 8% decline on 2008. .

But the news isn't all gloomy for consultants either, rates for higher level consultancy in areas such as Change Management, Human Resources, Engineering and IT fell by less than average and 93% of survey respondents expected to do as well or better in 2010 than last year.

This suggests that companies are increasingly turning to the UK's highly skilled flexible freelance workforce as business improves.

'We find that consultants with good skills and experience who put effort into marketing themselves are doing very well', says Gill Hunt, managing director of Skillfair.

'They invest time establishing good relationships with their clients and concentrate on adding value to the business, so they are often the first people that clients turn to in a crisis.' 

For full details of the survey results see http://www.skillfair.co.uk/content/969/2010-Annual-Fee-Rate-Survey.aspx