The consulting industry is changing and, currently, two distinct markets can be identified: low-cost consulting, which is ultimately about problems and solutions that clients understand and where the work is defined and understood; and high-value consulting, which deals with situations where clients are less confident about the question and the work needed. The latter tends to be the type of work that management consulting firms dominate. LSE Consulting’s activity predominately falls into low-cost consulting. 

Consulting alongside academia

Consulting can be a direct route to engage with clients on project activity in your research area alongside your role at LSE. It offers an additional income beyond your salary and can be undertaken separately to your role at LSE. If you want to learn more about how consulting can benefit your career, click here. 

LSE Consulting has been set up by the School to provide a service to help you undertake and manage consulting activity in addition to your LSE role. To engage in academic consulting, you do not need to seek permission from your Department or Centre although you may want to inform them or seek their advice.

It is our role to help you get paired with projects that match your experience, skills, and scope of interest.

Examples of academic consulting activity include:

• Evidence and systematic reviews: Comprehensive and exhaustive review of relevant literature to assess the impact of evidence
• Policy research: Analysis of the implementation, development, and effects of policy changes across different contexts
• Socio-economic analysis: Application of social science research to contemporary issues that organisations face
• Corporate and industry analysis: Broad analysis of corporate and industry dynamics to deliver practical recommendations that are responsive to changing market needs
• Evaluation and impact studies: Measurement of outcomes using diagnostic tools to help identify opportunities for improvement and achieve practices which are sustainable and transferable

Who is LSE Consulting?

LSE Consulting is a team within LSE Research and Innovation that manages consulting via LSE’s subsidiary LSE Enterprise Ltd. Our main aim is to provide flexible and varied support to academics seeking to undertake consulting activity. We have accumulated considerable knowledge and expertise in all aspects of project delivery, encompassing bidding and proposal preparation, negotiation, project management and implementation.

Alongside our core consulting activity, we offer various other services to engage with clients alongside your role at LSE. Through our Academic Speakers Bureau, we manage academics’ speaking engagements. Our specialised Consulting Hubs allow academics to connect and work with like-minded academics and researchers within specific topic areas. And lastly, we offer Bespoke Training services where we provide end-to-end support in developing and delivering custom training programmes.

LSE Consulting has helped LSE experts create impact across the globe for over three decades. We are now one of the leading academic consultancies in the UK and operate comfortably alongside private players in a competitive market.

Support for core consulting activity

As part of our core consulting activity, we offer flexible and varied support tailored to the nature of the project and the needs of both clients and academics. 

We help with:

Proposal support
Identification of new opportunities
Advice on procurement processes
Guidance on proposal structure, organisation and timelines
Budget preparation

Contract management
Contractual and Intellectual Property negotiation
Financial management
Contracting of all experts
Provision of professional indemnity insurance

Project management and research assistance
Liaison with clients
Management of large multidisciplinary teams
Coordination of the project team
Desk research, report drafting and proofreading
Administration of surveys and stakeholder interviews
Project websites and dissemination of research findings

Partnerships with academic departments
Market intelligence
Targeted business development
Portfolio management
Department promotion

Product and service development
Advice on packaging of products and services
Intellectual Property protection
Design of pricing models
Marketing support