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Register of consultants

Stephen Howarth
Deputy Chief Executive
West Midlands Regional Observatory
T: 0121 202 3258
E: stephen.howarth@wmro.org

Information
Title:	Register of consultants
Date submitted:	08/09/2006
Status:	Completed
Priority:	No priority
Description	The aim of the project would be to provide a searchable catalogue of consultants, searchable by theme, with contact details and examples of work carried out. It would be useful to have acknowledgements by previous customers available online. The Register would need to have a prominent disclaimer – making it clear that the WMRO were not endorsing any consultants on the register. The Register would contain some standard metadata about the consultant (perhaps using a template as used with the Skills Register). Perhaps each consultant would provide information on areas of expertise, examples of recent clients/projects, contact details, links to their web site, and possibly references.

Comments

Gavin Wray, Web & Data Officer said on Tue 27 Feb 2007 at 4:25 pm
Here are some points for discussion at the next Topic Group meeting on 28 Feb 2007. Suggested fields for a record in the Register of Consultants: 1) Contact details - Consultancy name - Office address - Telephone - Email - Website 2) Details (free text) - Brief description of the consultancy - Areas of specialism - Services 3) Examples of previous work e.g.: - client list - report titles and descriptions - this could include links to online reports/other organisations 4) Acknowledgements by previous customers Some consultants may already be registered in the existing Directory of Specialists on wmro.org. These entries could be denoted by a ‘consultancy’ icon and cross-referenced with the Register of Consultants. Optional: The existing ‘Add a comment’ tools (like this comment on a research gap submission) could be made available for previous customers to login and post comments about the consultancy. As with all content on wmro.org, an entry in the Register of Consultants can be ‘tagged’ with a range of appropriate themes, e.g. “sustainable development”, “regeneration” or “education and skills”. These themes could be listed as links in a sidebar alongside the entry in the Register. These links could enable users of the Register to continue browsing for other consultancies working within the same ‘theme’.

Gavin Wray, Web & Data Officer said on Tue 27 Feb 2007 at 4:25 pm

Here are some points for discussion at the next Topic Group meeting on 28 Feb 2007. Suggested fields for a record in the Register of Consultants:

1) Contact details
- Consultancy name
- Office address
- Telephone
- Email
- Website

2) Details (free text)
- Brief description of the consultancy
- Areas of specialism
- Services

3) Examples of previous work e.g.:
- client list
- report titles and descriptions
- this could include links to online reports/other organisations

4) Acknowledgements by previous customers

Some consultants may already be registered in the existing Directory of Specialists on wmro.org. These entries could be denoted by a ‘consultancy’ icon and cross-referenced with the Register of Consultants.

Optional: The existing ‘Add a comment’ tools (like this comment on a research gap submission) could be made available for previous customers to login and post comments about the consultancy.

As with all content on wmro.org, an entry in the Register of Consultants can be ‘tagged’ with a range of appropriate themes, e.g. “sustainable development”, “regeneration” or “education and skills”. These themes could be listed as links in a sidebar alongside the entry in the Register. These links could enable users of the Register to continue browsing for other consultancies working within the same ‘theme’.

said on Wed 28 Feb 2007 at 12:10 pm
Just for info, a similar facility exists on the web called the Research Buyers Guide ( www.rbg.org.uk ), I believe (it is also available in printed format if you're a member of the Market Research Society - being 2 inches think it makes a handy door stop!!) I think you'll find most agencies on there, along details of their areas of expertise, previous projects/customers and links to their websites. This whole database of consultants is searchable by agency name, are of expertise, geography, amongst other things. I find it a useful tool.

said on Wed 28 Feb 2007 at 12:10 pm

Just for info, a similar facility exists on the web called the Research Buyers Guide ( www.rbg.org.uk ), I believe (it is also available in printed format if you're a member of the Market Research Society - being 2 inches think it makes a handy door stop!!)

I think you'll find most agencies on there, along details of their areas of expertise, previous projects/customers and links to their websites.

This whole database of consultants is searchable by agency name, are of expertise, geography, amongst other things.

I find it a useful tool.

Gavin Wray said on Wed 28 Feb 2007 at 12:22 pm
Thanks for pointing out the link Rob. From the point of view of someone searching for research consultancies, this Research Buyer's Guide service certainly looks like it covers the needs identified in this gap submission. What do other members of the Topic Group think? Does this gap submission offer anything different to the Research Buyer's Guide?

said on Fri 02 Mar 2007 at 8:29 am
I asked a colleague to log on and take a look at this directory. However, there were only three WM consultancies registered. In addition, it was difficult to search via keyword. I think the development of the register of consultancies will not be duplication.

said on Fri 02 Mar 2007 at 9:21 am
As stated in the submission, and I support this, the location of the consultancy is not important - as long as they are able to work in the West Midlands. I accept that the search facility on the RBG website isn't great, but in my opinion the main cause of this is that consultancies write their own entry on the website. If the same is proposed for the new website, won't we suffer from the same problem? Perhaps we propose a selection of keywords that the agencies should include/exclude as appropriate (this means work for someone!) A related issue to this is that on the RBG site some of the areas of "expertise" claimed by some agencies can be quite tenuous; they state they have undertaken work within a certain field/sector but then are able to provide very little (and, like I say, often tenuous) supporting evidence. If you go ahead with the new database I would suggest that this is closely monitored. Finally, could I suggest a field which states which associations the agencies are members of? (such as the MRA, BMRA(?), etc.

said on Fri 02 Mar 2007 at 9:21 am

As stated in the submission, and I support this, the location of the consultancy is not important - as long as they are able to work in the West Midlands.

I accept that the search facility on the RBG website isn't great, but in my opinion the main cause of this is that consultancies write their own entry on the website. If the same is proposed for the new website, won't we suffer from the same problem? Perhaps we propose a selection of keywords that the agencies should include/exclude as appropriate (this means work for someone!)

A related issue to this is that on the RBG site some of the areas of "expertise" claimed by some agencies can be quite tenuous; they state they have undertaken work within a certain field/sector but then are able to provide very little (and, like I say, often tenuous) supporting evidence. If you go ahead with the new database I would suggest that this is closely monitored.

Finally, could I suggest a field which states which associations the agencies are members of? (such as the MRA, BMRA(?), etc.

said on Fri 02 Mar 2007 at 9:40 am
Thanks for your comments Rob. I have found these really useful and will keep you informed. The idea of adding a new field which states which associations they are members of is a good one. Regarding their areas of expertise, I would hope that any areas of experience that are submitted would be backed up with evidence. This is something we can certainly insist is included. At the last meeting about this gap submission, we discussed the possibility of clients adding their contact details against consultancies for any organisations who would like an informal chat. What do you think?

said on Fri 02 Mar 2007 at 9:40 am

Thanks for your comments Rob. I have found these really useful and will keep you informed. The idea of adding a new field which states which associations they are members of is a good one. Regarding their areas of expertise, I would hope that any areas of experience that are submitted would be backed up with evidence. This is something we can certainly insist is included. At the last meeting about this gap submission, we discussed the possibility of clients adding their contact details against consultancies for any organisations who would like an informal chat. What do you think?

said on Fri 02 Mar 2007 at 10:17 am
Rebekah, I like the idea of adding contact details of anyone willing to advise a prospective client on a particular agency. This would certainly better than having anything on the website which evaluated/rated/ranked an agency. This is an area which can be very subjective and needs to kept as personal opinions rather than shared with the world. Regards.

John Walker said on Wed 14 Mar 2007 at 1:51 pm
I think there's a huge amount of value to this idea and I think that putting contact details of clients alongside the consultants would be a very good addition. I think it would be important for the client to be able to put their own details alongside the consultant. I say this because if consultants put their own referees up they will generally be positive. Not all experiences of consultants will be so and it would be useful to know that as well to give a complete understanding of the consultants capabilities.

John Walker said on Wed 14 Mar 2007 at 1:51 pm

I think there's a huge amount of value to this idea and I think that putting contact details of clients alongside the consultants would be a very good addition.

I think it would be important for the client to be able to put their own details alongside the consultant. I say this because if consultants put their own referees up they will generally be positive. Not all experiences of consultants will be so and it would be useful to know that as well to give a complete understanding of the consultants capabilities.

said on Fri 16 Mar 2007 at 8:56 am
Culture WM are in the process of developing a list of consultancies.

said on Fri 13 Apr 2007 at 8:10 am
Thanks for your comment. I think the idea of including tender opportunities next to the register is a good one, and one that I will consider. Your point on good bad client testimony is one that has cropped up quite a few times. I think the idea came about from a need for public sector agencies to be able to assess quality of consultancies before they are invited to tender. I do agree that this point is very contentious. Happy that you like the idea. We should commence work on this next month.

said on Fri 13 Apr 2007 at 8:10 am

Thanks for your comment. I think the idea of including tender opportunities next to the register is a good one, and one that I will consider. Your point on good bad client testimony is one that has cropped up quite a few times. I think the idea came about from a need for public sector agencies to be able to assess quality of consultancies before they are invited to tender. I do agree that this point is very contentious.

Happy that you like the idea. We should commence work on this next month.

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