Global strategy consultancy Boston Consulting Group is now officially back on the map in New Zealand courtesy of the recent relaunch of its Auckland office, having previously departed in 2009.
The Auckland office of global strategy giant Boston Consulting Group (BCG) will enter the new year eyeing its six-month anniversary, officially reopening with a celebratory launch at the start of August after Covid-19 and some other issues had caused earlier delays.
Previously, the firm had operated in New Zealand through a local office for some twenty years before pulling out at the end of 2009. This time the firm says it’s here to stay.
Founded by Bruce Henderson in 1963, BCG first reached Antipodean shores in 1990 via the purchase of local management consultancy Pappas Carter Evans and Koop, co-founded by BCG and McKinsey & Company alumni. That deal came with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland; there isn’t an official account of the reasons for BCG’s subsequent withdrawal from the latter, but one factor cited is that its staff spent so much of their time across the ditch.
BCG has of course been sending its consultants on assignments in the other direction ever since, but there’s no doubt the firm sees the reestablishment of a permanent local office, located in Auckland’s harbourside Wynyard Quarter innovation precinct, as a significant step in its regional expansion. The launch event itself and caliber of international attendees alone suggests this isn’t some tentative step to retest the local waters.
In addition to the New Zealand team and BCG New Zealand boss Phillip Benedetti, among others in attendance were Miguel Carrasco, global leader of the BCG Center for Digital Government, Australia-based managing directors and partners Sarah Thom and Nicola Nicol, BCG New Zealand chair Andrew Clark and A/NZ managing partner Anthony Roediger, New Zealand Treasury chief Caralee Mcliesh, and BCG Asia Pacific chairman Neeraj Aggarwal.
“New Zealand is a country I am immensely fond of,” Aggarwal stated after the launch. “It has a great sporting tradition, incredible beauty, and very talented but humble people. It was energising and exciting to be there and celebrate the (re)-opening of our Auckland office. I have to admit, there’s something so positive about new beginnings. I’ve come home energised, motivated and full of hope. I look forward to being back soon. Kia Ora!”
Speaking with local media organisation Stuff.co.nz, Aggarwal expanded further on the motivation for reopening the firm’s New Zealand office (it was a toss-up between Auckland and Wellington, with the local office looking more toward the private than government sector) and its long-term vision, revealing that the country was pegged four years as one of three regional future hotspots alongside Osaka and Shenzhen.
Ultimately, the motivation was two-fold; developments in the country’s albeit small economy since last time BCG ran a permanent office, and the evolution of the once narrowly strategy-focused firm itself over the past decade into a broader outfit also including services in the area of operations, digital, procurement and technology, among others.
Benedetti concludes; “BCG is back, we're here to stay in New Zealand, and we want to build long term relationships.”
Sourced from Consultancy.com.au