Why Do People Employ Consultants

[Canary42]

A Consultant is a conman who borrows your watch to tell you the time and then charges you the earth for his professional services.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/captain-tom-charity-spent-162-101536042.html

[-SharonA-]

Disgraceful. Too many fingers in the pie.

[bobbinwales]

Sometimes it's cheaper to use consultants for one off or specialist tasks rather than employ more staff who may not have the expertise...but too often its money wasted

[Hymie]

The same happens when a company goes bankrupt and calls in the administrators – after the administrators have taken their cut, there is no money left to pay the creditors who would have otherwise received a good percentage of the money they were owed.

[Gromit]

No.
I used to work for a consultancy, and they bring expertise and (political) independence to any given question.
They are there to advise, and to arm the Government (or whever is emplying them), with informed answers.

[Canary42]

I too have had lots of experience of working with Consultants - and I stick to my definition.

[Gromit]

Having looked at the Capt. Tom Accounts, they appear to have not been good value for money.
Are they named (and if not, why not).

[Ellipsis]

The numbers in the article don't make much sense. For example it says:

> Captain Tom became a national hero in 2020 after walking 100 laps of his garden in aid of the NHS during the pandemic. His final lap was broadcast live on BBC Breakfast and he managed to raise a staggering £33million for NHS Charities Together, a federation of over 250 charities that support the health service.
> As a result of Captain Tom’s fundraising, each of the members of NHS Charities Together was granted £35,000 in a first wave of hand-outs. In the second wave, money was calculated at £7 per staff member at each of the NHS trusts it supports.

So if we just consider the "first wave" and a minimum of 250 charities each granted £35,000, that's £8.75M doshed out. Whereas in other places, it says:

> Financial statements published by the Captain Tom Foundation show that between May 2020 and May last year it spent £400,637, after taking in more than £1million of charitable donations.

Only £400,637? I'm thinking the "Captain Tom Foundation" is a separate entity from most of the money he raised.

[Mamyalynne]

The "Captain Tom Foundation" was set up by his family - I think that's what being reported on.

Article is disjointed.

[barry1010]

https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/captain-tom-foundation--regulators-last-year.html

The trustees are Captain Tom's son-in-law, a solicitor and an experienced business man. Setting up a new charity and managing money is expensive

[barry1010]

The millions that Captain Tom raised went straight to the NHS charity it was intended for.
This is totally separate, set up by Captain Tom's family and has so far raised over £1m

[royfromaus]

You could ask any Q's you have on twitter https://twitter.com/captaintommoore


https://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/p-2813/otterbeck/captain-sir-toms-london-dry-gin.jpg?ss=2.0

[DTCwordfan]

'because we can offer best practice and, if not, at least better practice.'

[Gromit]

While the consultancy fees are shocking, so is
// £162,336 of that was spent on management. //
I read that to be payments to his daughters/family, (£240,000 spent on fundraising).
Sadly, just another example where a charity is hijacked, and just a fraction of the money raised goes to the good causes, and the rest goes to the circling vultures.

[tomus42]

It's a bit of a sweeping statement. You can have an interior design consultant that does a great job, or an IT consultant that doesn't, or some other kind of consultant that does something in between.

[Maydup]

Raising and distributing money doesn’t happen without the work of professionals. I worked in the charitable sector for 40 years and I have done freelance for a charity. Would you expect me to be paid less than you?

As it happens now I have retired I volunteer for two charities but people who run them have mortgages and families to support just the same as the next person.

[barry1010]

Fundraising isn't cheap, admin has to be done properly. The Charity Commission is satisfied that the charity is being run according to the rules - one being that a trustee must not receive 'personal benefit'.

[andy-hughes]

Canary - Obviously your summary is the sarcastic / humourous version of a profession to which you have taken a dislike.

It's possible to do that with anything - Professional Football - twenty-two divas kicking a bag of wind about, and so on .....

My wife is an educational consultant, paid to go into schools, and find and fix problems using her expertise.

Clearly, she would not agree with your perception of her profession, but such is life.

[ToraToraTora]

yes typical canary, dissing something he cannot possibly comprehend.

[margaretli640]

Consultants provide a beneficial buffer between business concerns and its owners; they aren't as emotionally invested in operations as owners are, and they can more quickly identify and address issues, whether it's installing new technology or completing a merger or acquisition.

[gulliver1]

All Consultants are rip off merchants, every single one of them.