Growing a consultancy sounds exciting. In reality, it often feels like holding everything together with spreadsheets, shared drives, and late-night phone calls. That was where Scendea, a specialist biotech consultancy, found themselves in 2020. They were delivering world-class regulatory and product development support to life sciences clients, but their internal systems weren’t keeping up. Budgets were in Excel. Timesheets in ClickTime. Resourcing happened through phone calls. It got them by for a while, but it wasn’t sustainable — and it certainly wasn’t going to get them where they wanted to go.
The Problem: Growth outpacing operations
The Scendea team knew their work was impactful. But scaling a consultancy requires more than great client service. It demands visibility over projects, resources, and finances in a way that keeps decision-making clear and operations under control.
With different systems scattered across functions, Scendea’s leadership lacked the integrated view they needed to make confident growth decisions.
The Change: One platform for the whole consultancy
In early 2020, Scendea implemented Projectworks, a consulting-specific platform that replaced five disconnected systems with one source of truth.
That meant:
- Smarter resourcing with instant visibility of team availability
- Time and expenses in one place, feeding directly into financials
- Live dashboards showing project and company profitability
- A collaborative roadmap that incorporated Scendea’s feedback to improve the platform
This wasn’t just a software purchase. It became a partnership.
The Results: 168% growth without chaos
Five years later, the results speak for themselves.
- 168% growth
- Faster hiring decisions backed by accurate forecasting
- Consultants freed up to focus on high-value client work
- Greater impact for clients and patients
“My advice to other consultancies: make the jump now. If you wait, it’ll only become more complex and time-consuming to transfer. Do it earlier, understand the product, bite the bullet - you won’t regret it.”
— Charles Camp, Managing Director (UK & EU) & CFO, Scendea
The takeaway for consultancies on a growth journey
Scendea’s success didn’t happen by chance. It was strategic, deliberate, and supported by the right operational foundation.
If your consultancy is on a growth journey, their story is worth a closer look. Read more about Scendea's growth here.
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Scaling a consulting firm isn’t theory for us - it’s lived experience. We've developed a play-by-play cheat sheet that comes from years of leading and growing firms through every messy, exhilarating stage of the journey. We've made every mistake along the way, which means you don’t have to.
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