About Urwick Group
Urwick Group - International HR Consultants
The Urwick Group comprises a consortium of experienced consultants with specialist skills in Human Resources Management and Development and Organisational Development. Most of the Group gained this expertise initially in the UK but developed the skills over 20 years of operation in emerging markets and developing countries
Our Roots
The Groupâs core members have strong roots in management consultancy from the 1980s and early â90s, while working together in Price Waterhouse Management Consultants in its Human Resources Division, one of the largest general HR consultancies in Europe at the time. Extensive training and development was a key element of such a professional practice. Thus the Groupâs members bring with them the professional ethos and discipline associated with having operated within this major management consultancy over many years in service delivery and project management roles.
The PW consultancy practice included the Urwick Management Centre (UMC) - originally a division of UK Management Consultancy, Urwick Orr & Partners) which had been in the forefront of management training and development for over 40 years. When the firm was acquired by Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) in 1984 Gordon Gullan, (later to become a founder of the Group) was Managing Consultant at UMC responsible for the Engineering & Construction Department, which had many of the UKâs top construction private companies as clients for executive & senior management development. In 1990, PW withdrew from public training & development activity and closed UMC. Gordon acquired the rights to the Urwick brand name in 1999.
Our Network
The Urwick Group was formed some ten years ago to offer development activities concentrating on people and organisations, especially in its early stages on management development and organisation development, building on the Urwick Management Centre's reputation and expertise of its core consultants and trainers.
All members of the Group have built up their own independent consultancies focusing on different aspects of the HR and organisational development spectrum. The members now operate as a âvirtual teamâ of independent consultants between them offering a full range of specialist HR & organisational competencies, primarily in donor-funded projects in many parts of the developing world.
With recent powerful developments in communications technology, the Groupâs ability to network around the world on various projects is much enhanced. This allows members to share expertise and offer support across a range of projects and sectors.
By operating as a âvirtualâ consultancy, the Group keeps its overhead costs to a minimum and allows it greater flexibility to respond to its clients, which is important when working in association with other larger consultancies.