Deloitte’s acquisition of Drivers Jonas could mark the beginning of a round of takeovers in the consultancy sector that could remove “up to 30% of firms”

The accountant combined with the property services group last week to form Drivers Jonas Deloitte, a 700-partner firm with a turnover of more than £110m.

David Sparrow, a member of EC Harris’ board said: “The move is of a scale not seen before and further consolidation is inevitable. Up to 30% of UK professional services firms will not exist in their current form within 18 months.”

Mike Cuthbert, project management partner at Drivers Jonas, agreed that the deal would probably be the first of many in 2010, as the recession pushes consultants together.

He said: “Professional services in the construction and property industry will be delivered in different ways. Some consultant engineers in particular are struggling and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a major merger as firms look to cut costs.”

He added that the deal was driven by Drivers Jonas’ desire to preserve double-digit turnover growth in order to attract the best staff. A quarter of turnover at Drivers Jonas comes from project management and building surveying, in addition to its property services businesses.

Tony Williams, the chair of building surveying specialist Watts, said there would be fewer white collar consultants by the end of this year. “Now is the time to do these deals as people notice an upturn in the market.”

The Deloitte deal comes amid talk about the interest of American firms in UK consultants. Last month Building reported that US companies Aecom, Jacobs and CH2MHill were a string of top UK consultants.

What DJD can offer

Example 1
If one retail chain takes over another, Deloitte could handle the sale of the property and structure the financial side of the deal, while Drivers Jonas could survey the properties being bought.

Example 2
If there is a scheme where Deloitte is administering the developer’s funding arrangements, Drivers Jonas can help to finish it as project manager.