In May 2025 we undertook our annual review of UK Management Consultancy salaries. This was compiled using a variety of sources including our clients, candidates and other recruiters, as well as additional information, both private and published.
Our experience is that in 2022 and into 2023 candidate aspirations around a salary AND grade rise on moving jobs were bullish, especially at junior and mid-tier levels. A pay and grade increase were much more often mentioned as key requirements in the next role than formerly.
However since 2023 the candidate shortages have evaporated and 2023/2024 saw well publicised redundancies from all the major firms: strategy, advisory and M&A. While this was focussed on early career levels there has been some thinning out at more senior grades as well.
Significant downturn in the consultancy sector
Overall we are in a significant downturn: consultancy redundancies may have abated but salary/bonus/promotion freezes are widespread. Consultants out of work are therefore flexible while those in employment are keen to see an uplift in grade and/or salary in a job move to compensate for perceived risk.
Future staff turnover
The market has been here before and Prism’s experience is that employers should be looking hard at their workforce and the potential for significant staff turnover once the market turns. As it surely will!
Apart from salary the other main reasons for a move remain: career progression, better experience, new challenges, better culture/values and work/life balance.
There remains a confusingly broad range of salaries at any given grade with top packages typically mainly to be found in the “Big 4” and other brand name advisory and strategy firms.
The table below summarises our findings for management consultant salaries:
| Grade | Base Salary Range | Average |
| Consultant | £45,000-£65,000 | £55,000 |
| Senior Consultant | £55,000-£80,000 | £65,000 |
| Managing Consultant/Manager | £70,000-£110,000 | £80,000 |
| Principal Consultant/Senior Manager | £90,000-£140,000 | £105,000 |
| Director | £120,000-£180,000 | £140,000 |
(We don’t include large firm Partner and other equivalent Executive grades)
It should be mentioned that there was debate on the “average” figures: as a result some are slightly lower than last year.
Bonuses
Bonuses are on top of these numbers and usually dependent on a mix of personal objectives and those of the firm. At more senior levels such personal objectives are frequently weighted towards sales.
We have seen a marked decline in bonus awards: in theory they range from 0-15% at junior levels up to c30% at the most senior grades (occasionally more and sometimes “uncapped”). In practice, looking at 2024, these upper figures have been rare.
Employee benefits
Other employee benefits are not a simple topic: varying from the statutory minimum of employer pension contribution and little else to a generous package of 17% or more, some of which can be taken as a cash equivalent. Typically, but not always, the former is associated with smaller consulting firms and the latter with the larger well known international employers. c12.5% is perhaps a useful average across the management consultancy sector.
Travel expenses
A ‘wildcard’ can be the travel expenses policy: if an employer is able to denote a given employee as ‘home based’ for the purpose of expenses then this can be worth a considerable amount to the employee depending upon their location. Apart from this there are few noticeable regional differences in remuneration.
Working from home
In 2020 there was a dramatic shift in employees’ expectations regarding working from home and for reduced mobility in consulting. However since 2024 the employer “push back” has been well publicised and many now expect employees to be in the office (or client) three days per week: sometimes more.
We have seen small numbers of major firms’ Principals (Senior Managers) with base salaries of more than £140,000: these outliers have not been reflected above and sometimes relate to firms attempting to keep staff by paying them Director level salaries when they are not able to promote them. Conversely there are also some staff who have the title “Senior Manager” on £85,000 (even in large firms) but with limited sales expectations.
Definitions of consulting levels:
Consultant:
At this level management consultants will typically have 2-5 years of experience (below this may be one, or two, postgraduate “Analyst” grades).
Senior Consultant:
With at least 3 years’ post degree experience and perhaps up to 7 years, these are more experienced delivery consultants. They may have experience of leading small teams, often perhaps as a workstream in a larger project. They could have some exposure to business development (i.e. contributing to bids/proposals) however they are overwhelmingly a chargeable delivery resource with high utilisation.
Managing Consultant/Manager:
At this level consultants will have at least 5 or 6 years’ total experience and perhaps up to 12, almost certainly including several years in consulting. They will manage small to medium scale consulting engagements with typically 2-5 consulting staff and possibly also a similar number of client staff. Their focus is as a chargeable resource, with c70-85% utilisation. They may have some business development responsibilities, particularly “sell on” and related client management, but will not carry a target.
Principal Consultant/Senior Manager:
Consultants at this level will typically have a minimum of 9 or 10 years’ experience, usually with several years in consulting. They will be able to operate independently at a senior level with clients, including managing major engagements or multiple projects, and may have sales and business development targets. They might “own” relationships, although probably not the overall account. Utilisation targets will range from 50%-75%, but on occasions higher and with reduced sales/revenue expectations.
Director:
These are very experienced and successful management consultants with at least 13 years’ experience, and often more than 20. These roles have all the attributes of a Principal Consultant and will almost always have formal sales or revenue targets, perhaps owning account relationships and probably with practice leadership responsibilities for a sector or service line – either “virtual” or with direct staff management. Utilisation is typically 30%-60%.
In smaller firms these might be the most senior consulting employees (apart from the owner(s) or the MD) and could be termed “Partner”. In mid-sized consultancies or the consulting arms of IT/outsourcing businesses they might report to the consulting leadership team/Partners or the Head of Consulting.
On occasion, often in larger firms, these were not sales/revenue roles but grades for Subject Matter Experts, frequently with the explicit understanding that further promotion, i.e. to Partner, was unlikely. They are however now rare.
In the Big 4 and major advisory firms the Partner grades are above this. Partners would own the larger accounts and have higher sales targets.
NB: we have not attempted to cover all variations of role terminology. For example a Manager can be a Managing Consultant, or Principal Consultant. While the grade above that, of Senior Manager, can ALSO be called Managing Consultant or Principal Consultant. And the grade above that, Director, can also be called “Principal Consultant”!
The Management Consultancy Salary Review 2025 is also available as a pdf. You can also check out our Consultancy Recruitment Guide which covers many areas of employment as a consultant for both clients and candidates.
If you would like to discuss any aspects of this complex topic, please contact Chris Sale, Managing Director, Prism Executive Recruitment on 01344 636 426 or [email protected]
For more information on our services please visit prismrecruitment.co.uk
