Consulting firms, all in the central business district!

The difficulties in attracting and retaining talent have certainly played a role in the Parisian refocusing of the consulting sector. A clear trend is emerging: a return to the Central Business District with firm commitments.

A very clear trend

Recent movements, or those planned for the near future, bear witness to this:

- AT Kearney moves from the Left Bank, rue de l'Université, to a 2,000 sq.m. platform in the Society Opera building, rue Cadet in the 9th arrondissement, under a firm 9-year lease

- BCG is also leaving the Left Bank, on rue Saint Dominique, for avenue de la Grande Armée. The employees will occupy the 20,500 m² L1ve building, the former headquarters of Peugeot, under a firm 12-year lease.

- Accuracy has moved from Neuilly to Avenue Matignon on 3,000 m².

- Eight Advisory remains in the CBD and will move from rue de Courcelles to rue la Boétie in a Gecina building in which the consultants will occupy 7,800 m², i.e. 80% of the space

- Roland Berger will move from rue de Lisbonne to rue Jean Goujon, reducing its surface area by 50%. They will occupy 3,600 m² of a building revisited by Willmotte, offering 630 m² of outdoor space.

- Talan moved from rue Dumont d'Urville to rue Pergolèse in the 16th

- E&Y Parthenon has joined the rest of the E&Y teams in the First Tower in 2020, but the company has just taken a lease on space in the One Monceau building on rue de Chazelle, marking its return to Paris

But some exceptions

However, there are a few exceptions:

- Kea Partners which remains in Malakoff but for patrimonial reasons

- Ayming, who returned to his stronghold in Levallois after several years in Gennevilliers

- Deloitte, KPMG, Mazars and Bearing Point, all four located at La Défense (note that Bearing Point has moved but within La Défense)

- PWC loyal to Neuilly

Decoding

Being part of the ecosystem, pampering its consultants to keep them, being close to transportation hubs: these are all explanations for the maintenance of consulting firms in the QCA sector.

The choices are:

- On renovated or restructured "prime" buildings

- On service buildings with common spaces allowing a hybrid work mode

And the must: having your own terrace or garden!

All these signs show that, in the consulting sector too, the transformation of work is underway.