Focusing on the UK public sector rather than chasing international infrastructure work has paid dividends, according to one of the country's biggest consulting and business services groups, Mouchel Parkman. The group's chief executive, Richard Cuthbert, issued a statement to the London Stock Exchange which revealed an 18% jump in full-year pre-tax profits, excluding exceptionals, to £32.4m. He revealed the increasing trend for local authorities to outsource back-office functions and support services had been key to the firm's continued top performance. The company has doubled in size over the last four years, and Mr Cuthbert told The MJ expansion would continue. ‘We said in 2003, when we set out our five-year plan, that we wanted to be twice as big. This is the culmination and we've avoided the problem of growth for its own sake.' In August, the company made the surprise announcement that it had acquired business process outsourcing group HBS, for £46.24m. It added £1.1bn of deals into the bidding pipeline, and continued the company's move towards providing a range of services to the public sector. ‘Integrating HBS – the management, IT systems and so on – takes time, but it fits with where we want to go. Local authorities and other parts of the public sector increasingly want to put more work with fewer suppliers for longer periods of time,' he said. The company's strategic decision to focus on the UK instead of China or Far East had paid dividends. The group now employed 11,000 people and was involved in projects such as the Cutty Sark restoration reject in Greenwich. Mr Cuthbert also revealed the company was to rebrand. In future, it would simply be known as Mouchel Group He added: ‘Our aim is to keep winning work and building on our success, but the key has been good relations with clients over a long period of time. And that will continue'
