The 2022 Fastest Growing Firms: Elixirr

Number of Billable Consultants: 483

Client Industries Served: Cross-industry, from Financial Services to Insurance to Retail to Manufacturing and everything in between.

Consulting Service Lines: Multi-service – from strategy to innovation

Website URL: https://www.elixirr.com

Elixirr is an established, global award-winning challenger consultancy. With roots in strategy consulting, our capabilities are constantly evolving as we grow, ranging from business model innovation to digital transformation. We tackle the toughest board-room challenges, taking the right route, not the easy one to pioneer change on a global scale.

Consulting: What were the main factors that contributed to your firm's exceptional growth?

Newton:

We're on a mission to be the best (not the biggest) consulting firm in the world. So, our growth is strategic. It's driven by a four-pillar strategy that, from day one, has shaped how we've accelerated into different markets, geographies, industries and services – and the last few years have been no different. Three of the growth strategy's pillars address organic growth, focusing on nurturing and growing our internal talent to widen company networks and service offerings, whilst the fourth – inorganic – focuses on business acquisitions. Since 2019 we have more than doubled in size, growing our US team alone by 66%, acquired three new brands, seen over 100% increase in revenue and brought on 150 new clients – all of which can be attributed to this growth strategy.

Our listing on the London Stock Exchange with AIM in 2020 helped to supercharge our growth across geographies, strengthening our position in global markets and facilitating the acceleration of our inorganic growth. We have acquired three firms since listing: Coast Digital, a digital marketing agency, Retearn, a boutique procurement and transformation consultancy and recently iOLAP, a specialist US-based data and technology firm – all enriching our offering significantly.

Our IPO also enabled us to introduce a best-in-market equity participation scheme. Every one of our employees has the opportunity to become an owner and reap the rewards of our growth, which is further incentive to help scale the firm, whilst aligning everyone to the same goal.

While we are a global firm, the US has been our biggest area of expansion in recent years. As well as being the world's largest management consulting market, there is clear demand for a different kind of consulting partner here, and our disruptive, nimble offering perfectly meets our clients' needs. From first establishing our presence here in 2016, we are now working with leading brands across the US, and our teams are based across multiple locations including New York, San Francisco and Dallas.

Ultimately our sustained growth can be attributed to an acute focus on our clients. By placing their needs at the forefront of our expansion strategy, we've grown to offer not just traditional consulting services, but an entire spectrum of capabilities. This way, we're equipped to tackle any of the challenges facing boardrooms today – combining deep strategy with the latest innovation, enabling our clients to stay ahead of their competition.

Consulting: How is this year shaping up for your firm?

Newton: The acquisition of iOLAP in March of this year was significant for the Elixirr group, as our first US acquisition and largest to-date. We are now able to bring specialist technology, data and analytics capabilities to our clients, elevating our service offering; what was previously exclusively consulting teams has grown to include diverse teams of digital experts, data specialists and developers. Combining this with our strategic expertise brings a vast market opportunity – one which is already being realized.

This exciting development further expands our ability to cross-sell across the group, as each respective acquisition brings their own network of clients. With iOLAP on board, Elixirr now has access to over 500 clients, from startups to blue-chips and a US team that is now double the size. The potential impact of this is highlighted in our financial outlook for FY 22, with expectations of further growth and revenue forecasts of £70-75m.

Consulting: How would you describe your firm's outlook for 2023? Where do you see the most opportunities?

Newton: The firm's outlook for 2023 is strong as we continue to expand our brands and acquire like-minded, high-performing businesses that aren't afraid to tackle the bigger challenges. From a geography perspective, we continue to see the market opportunity in the US and will focus efforts on acquisition targets here. Further, we're growing our presence in Australia, among other opportunities, hiring new talent to strengthen our expertise. Additionally, Europe is particularly compelling due to the plethora of innovative consultancies situated there. From a capability perspective, we continue to search for additive capabilities, like ESG and cyber, that complement our existing offering and follow market trends, allowing us to continue tackling our clients' toughest business challenges.

As we look towards 2023, and beyond, we're more ready and motivated than ever to truly shake up the industry and leave a legacy. But further – the market is now yearning for this change. Companies are seeking a different kind of consulting partner, one that does not simply tell clients what they want to hear, but what they need to hear in order to truly transform.

Whilst our competition are burdened by history, we are unencumbered by it. We are shaping our future and redefining our industry, with our clients' successes as proof of our own. And this is just the beginning of the journey.

Consulting: What would you say are your firm's biggest challenges in 2023?

Newton: One of the biggest challenges that many companies face as they scale is maintaining quality of culture and top talent. Elixirr was born out of a desire to be different, and preserving our culture is a key marker of our success. Our approach is driven by building lasting relationships with clients and delivering exceptional quality work. Maintaining this commitment to our clients as we bring in more people and firms, across new geographies, is essential. Without our culture we are simply another player in an over-saturated industry.

This is where our equity incentives hold such significance. An entrepreneurial mindset is something we have always instilled throughout Elixirr, but the IPO and the equity opportunities this allows us to reward our people with, are game-changing. It means that our team are accountable for the results that they produce – not only for Elixirr, but for themselves as individual shareholders.

At a macro level, there are signs of further market volatilely in 2023 and beyond. But we were formed in the financial crisis and listed during the pandemic. We know that we are well-positioned to deal with adversity – it's something that we help our clients deal with day-to-day.

Consulting: What does being named one of Consulting's Fastest Growing Firms mean to your firm, your employees and your clients?

Newton: Winning this award would show recognition to our firm truly offering something different and valuable to the market. We 'make shit happen' for our clients and our people, and our fast growth is evidence of this. Our US business has been a huge contributor to our growth success. We've established ourselves in a market in which we were previously unknown, building longstanding client relationships – brands that now represent some of our biggest accounts globally.

This recognition would also be a testament to our team. Scaling at the pace we have is only possible with a passionate commitment from everyone involved. Despite new market challenges, our team have continued to view themselves as shareholders of our business, not just employees – a place where their hard work and personal success is reflected through the firm. Through adversity is when a team of entrepreneurial minds really prevail.