{
  "id": 3674045,
  "title": "Affluent Big Four partners lack ‘fire in the belly’ to disrupt consulting market",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/affluent-big-four-partners-lack-fire-in-the-belly-to-disrupt",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-27T05:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/affluent-big-four-partners-lack-fire-in-the-belly-to-disrupt-consulting-market/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The trend of former Big Four partners establishing boutique consultancies has been occurring for several years. Q5 Partners, founded by Olly Purnell and three others, emerged during the height of the global financial crisis with the aim of creating a successful and effective organization without a large workforce of junior consultants. Despite the surge in former Big Four partners seeking to challenge the market with boutique firms, Purnell has expressed concerns that some affluent individuals may lack the necessary drive to build a globally recognized brand.\n\nPurnell highlighted that in 2009, the Q5 partners, who were all in their mid-30s and had young families to support, \"couldn't afford to fail\" and had a strong sense of purpose. He emphasized that for someone who has reached the stage of life where they have already achieved significant wealth, there needs to be a strong fixation on wanting to create something special and make a meaningful impact.\n\nCurrently, Q5 Partners operates with around 400 staff across various global offices, having grown from a basement office 15 years ago. The self-funded firm reported its best year last year, with revenue beating previous records. Purnell noted that the firm has been growing at nearly 20% annually since 2020, driven by a focus on organizational performance and creating successful, effective organizations through specialized 12-week assignments.\n\nLooking ahead, Purnell aims to maintain Q5's rapid growth while remaining staff-owned, expanding the firm into new geographies and private-equity work. He believes that AI-driven restructuring will continue to reshape the industry, but a specialist advisory firm with a strong reputation and purpose-driven approach will have a significant market opportunity.",
  "summary": "The trend of Big Four partners leaving to launch boutique consultancies has been prominent in recent years. But Q5 Partners’ co-founder has told City AM that many would struggle to build true challenger brands without an “all or nothing” approach. Five founders, including managing partner Olly Purnell, launched boutique consultancy firm Q5 Partners at the height of [...]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}