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The "Hidden Champions of Consulting", launched for the ninth time in 2024/25, are the oldest seal of quality for consultants in Germany, awarded by the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Management und Beratung (WGMB) under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Dietmar Fink – with regularly high reach and considerable attention in the market. 

After 2019 and 2021, AdEx Partners was awarded for the third time in a row in the "Program & Project Management" category. 

The clients have the say

The ranking is based on clients’ feedback. A structured, detailed survey of over 1,000 executives from large and medium-sized companies is used to determine which highly specialized but comparatively unknown consulting firms are considered by their clients to have greater expertise in their field than the three major consulting firms McKinsey, BCG and Bain & Company. Participation in the study takes place exclusively on the recommendation of an independent panel of experts from academia and practice. 

Precise criteria

In Germany, around a quarter of the approximately EUR 49 billion consulting market in 2023 was generated by the 25 players with the highest revenues. Only a few challengers manage to compete successfully in the top segment of the market. This year, 30 consulting companies qualified as hidden champions. 

The hidden champions, as the WGMB summarizes, "are considered to be particularly capable of implementation and teamwork, they speak the language of the specialist departments and offer an attractive price level." The following three criteria must be met in order to participate in the study:  

  • A hidden champion is comparatively unknown (unaided awareness in the overall market does not exceed 15%) 

  • A hidden champion is active in the same market as McKinsey, BCG and Bain 

  • A hidden champion is a serious alternative to the three big consulting companies. 

If a consulting company meets all three criteria, it may use the "Hidden Champion of the Consulting Market" distinction for a limited period of time. 

A big thank you to our clients who took part in the survey and thus expressed their appreciation for our work. 

Click here for more information on the study

Click here for the interview with Prof. Dr. Fink in Capital and the report in the magazine