More and more businesses are recruiting interim managers for projects normally reserved for the four major management consultancy companies, according to reports from agencies in the sector.

Interim managers work out much cheaper to recruit because their contracts tend to be shorter and more flexible.

“There’s a brand of interim manager who specialises in consultancy and diagnostic work and we’re now seeing them coming into direct competition with management consultancies,” said Raj Tulsiani, managing director of Penna Interim.