Lost it's spark as well as a lot of key talent - Principal Consultant Gate One Employee Review

Funny how a rating of between 1-3 starts is posted and then miraculously a 5 star rating is posted a few days later which is about as convincing as one of Keir Starmer's manifesto promises! No pay rises for the last few years and bonuses are at the very bottom range of the industry average. Whilst we're told we are above the industry average for pay and bonus this is at complete odds to conversations I've had with recruiters, HR professionals, and colleagues operating in this space. I'm sorry, but no one at GO is buying this anymore.  Annual Gateaways are exorbitantly expensive echo chambers and everyone I speak to would rather the cost of hosting a gateaway be put towards our bonuses or pay rises. Frankly, a yearly night away designed to reinforce the company's culture doesn't help with saving for a deposit.  Gate One emphasises how unique its culture is but, frankly, it is the same as other consultancies, especially the one I joined from. Havas, yes, creates a unique edge, but not Gate One itself.  Reliance on 1 major account for a significant portion of our revenue is concerning and we should better diversify given we have been burnt badly by this model in the past. No budget for entertaining clients which is really unheard of when I mention this to friends at other consultancies. This is a huge perk of the job and vital for effective long term BD and relationship building. You have to ask permission from finance to just buy a round of drinks at a pub for a client! Too many senior team members are given large accounts to manage and then fail to bring in any other new clients. This is fine if they are on account manager salaries, but not when they are on CD/Partner grade salaries. If you generate new clients, not new contracts, then the partner salary is justified, if you are just a large account caretaker then you should be on a Principal or CD salary.  There is an air of arrogance from those mentioned above who have been given accounts to run. I have unfortunately had to sit in on several meetings with one of these Partners during a number of client meetings and it was one of the least impressive interactions I've ever witnessed. I've seen analysts, still wet behind the ears, deliver more tangible and meaningful presentations/meetings. It also didn't help that the client called me directly afterwards to ask what the hell this Partner was going on about... Also, too many Partners/CDs are focused on their own brand image as well as some having business ventures outside of Gate One. If you have an external business venture which is clearly taking up a lot of your time then Gate One should only be paying you half your salary at the very most. I'm actually quite surprised this hasn't been flagged internally as a conflict of interest... Too much of an emphasis on internal work and BD often at the expense of client delivery with a number of colleagues coming close to burnout Linked to the above, too many people have stretched themselves too thin, which is noticeable from their client delivery, or lack thereof.  Incredibly top-heavy organisation with a tiny % of the business from our Analyst to Senior Consultant grade. This means we are uncompetitive when it comes to sourcing teams for large scale transformation programmes which often means we have to heavily discount our day rates or simply lose out to competitors.  The above point also means that few people ever actually manage large teams which is a personal development factor for many people, including myself. Very few employees aspire to reach Partner level given the uncompetitive Partner packages at similar medium-sized consultancies, hence why a lot of people are looking to move out when they get to senior grade groups  We lost some fantastic people in 24/25 which not only had a big effect on morale but also our bottom line. Finally, it's worth bearing in mind that Gate One is a huge cash cow for Havas and whilst we are told they are very much hands off, this is only whilst we continue to grow, once we plateau, like any other parent company, they will grab the reigns and steer it in the direction they want.