ICB report ''could create consultancy, strategy and change jobs in London''

The release of an interim report by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) could result in an increase in the number of consultancy jobs in London, should the comments of one publication prove anything to go by.

With the commission calling for banks' retail and investment operations to be broken, Andrew Gray, UK banking leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), states that although "branches can be clearly identified, many of the banks have integrated support services which will be harder and costly to separate".

However, eFinancialCareers reports the process of diversification "will unquestionably involve consultants and it will unquestionably involve project managers, who are in short supply already."

And with the publication claiming that following the ICB report's recommendations is unlikely to be a simple process, it states "complexity should encourage recruitment", which in turn may lead to an increase in the number of consultancy, strategy and change jobs in London.

A Financial Times article published last September reported demand for consultants had increased as financial services providers sought assistance with restructuring and dealing with regulatory changes in the wake of the financial crisis.