New Hakluyt head vows to maintain British advisory agency unbiased | USAEMALL.com

Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up to the Financial services myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.

Hakluyt’s new head has vowed to keep the London-based advisory firm independent even as larger consulting rivals are seeking to consolidate the sector through a wave of deals.

In his first interview since becoming managing partner, Thomas Ellis told the Financial Times that the firm was instead focused on increasing its profits after a period of intense growth that has taken its headcount to nearly 200, with offices in 13 countries.

“We’re a partnership, and we’re full of quite independently minded people. That’s not something we’re looking at or thinking about. We enjoy the status we have at the moment,” Ellis said when asked about attempts by the likes of KKR-backed FGS Global to purchase smaller advisory outfits.

“We value being a boutique business and see a lot of headroom still in this.”

Hakluyt’s most recent accounts, which will be published in the coming days, show that revenues increased 16 per cent to £131mn in the year to June 2024. Operating profits climbed 13.5 per cent to £29.5mn.

Ellis, previously Hakluyt’s chief operating officer, took over running the 40-person partnership last August after its previous leader, Varun Chandra, left the firm to become chief business aide to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Under Chandra and now Ellis, Hakluyt has tried to shed its “spooky” image as a secretive firm founded by former MI6 officers and become a more transparent advisory business that goes beyond corporate intelligence gathering.

Ellis said he was focused on lifting the profitability of the firm after several years of expansion both in terms of headcount and in geographic footprint. He said the firm’s profit growth would outstrip revenue growth in its next financial year.

“We want to deepen relationships with clients. We’re very excited about the opportunity to move up the value chain,” Ellis said. The firm says it has advised more than three-quarters of the top 20 private equity firms and 45 per cent of the FTSE 100.

Hakluyt has continued to attract scrutiny for its close links to the British government.

The FT revealed earlier this year that Chandra had continued to receive dividends from his multimillion-pound stake in the firm even after exiting. Hakluyt said it had entered into a standard sale and purchase agreement to buy back his shares over time and that Chandra no longer had any voting rights or decision-making roles within the firm.

The accounts show that Chandra earned £2.3mn in his final year in charge, up from £2.1mn in the year to June 2023.

Ellis himself once served as a senior adviser to former prime minister Tony Blair at both the Cabinet Office and Downing Street. In April 2024, former Tory party leader William Hague became chair of its international advisory board.

Another Hakluyt partner, Sir Olly Robbins, became the permanent secretary for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in January.