Social and economic advancement for BAME, black and minority ethnic communities through management consultancy

Equinox Consulting is an innovative dynamic management consultancy set up in 1983 to promote social and economic advancement for, BAME, Black and Minority Ethnic, disadvantaged and socially excluded communities through management consultancy.
We offer solutions in:
• Community development and involvement issues
• Enterprise skills training and promotion strategies
• Employment skills training and placement initiatives

We adopt an integrated approach by offering services in:
• Consultancy
• Training
• Research

We consider ourselves as specialists in the field of regeneration and renewal of deprived communities and have experience of working on issues relating to clients from:
• BAME, Black and Minority ethnic communities
• Inner city communities
• Refugees and asylum seekers
• Socially excluded and marginalised communities

Our clients come from all sectors of the economy
•International, Central and Local Government and Statutory Partnerships
•Voluntary Organisations and Community Groups
•Private sector and small, medium and micro businesses

The principals in Equinox Consulting each have over  32 years experience of delivering quality services for clients and have excellent expertise in the area of working for bame, Black andMinority Ethnic communities in Britain.
• Approved consultants under the NCVO scheme
• Certified Management Consultants
• Institute of Management Consultancy registered

Our Thinking

Our Thinking – celebrating diversity: binding cohesive communities

We recognise that as Britain becomes more of a multicultural and multi-ethnic community there are tensions to be resolved often because of conflicting and contradictory needs of the different communities; we believe that it is critical to reexamine and redefine the basis of integration because the different communities all contribute to the economic and social advancement of this country.
Our belief is that the role of a management consultant is one of shedding light on issues but also one of adding value to the work of our clients and the communities that we serve. We continue to provide new approaches to resolving problems that are seen as intractable, that needs a setting amount of stepping aside to reframe the important questions that need to be asked.
We focus in three main areas of Community development, Enterprise Strategies and Employment initiatives as they relate to disadvantaged communities in Britain. Our work is influenced by the guiding principles of innovation, diversity and sensitivity that enables us to deliver enduring and sustainable solutions to the issues that confront the British people of African, Caribbean and Asian descent.
We are confident that our work assists in this important task of binding diverse communities into cohesive stronger communities that make a contribution to development and growth in this country and that eventually makes Britain a better place to live and work.

Innovation – Exploring and extending critical nuances and approaches

Our brand of innovation is about trying new things and improving on existing things and is borne out of the belief that a process of continuous improvement is important if disadvantaged groups are to advance.

As a consultancy, we strive to devise new methodologies for carrying out our assignments and in seeking the views of traditionally disadvantaged communities we go the extra mile in trying to reach them. The process starts with ensuring that they are comfortable with our approaches and if it means holding training sessions for business people at weekends or interviewing them in the homes rather than in their places of business because that is more convenient for them, we are prepared to do that.

We also make use of the points of influence within their communities whether these are the known community leaders or the different faith leaders or the unsung pillars of the communities, we seek these out, explain the benefits of our work to enable them to assist us in our community involvement and engagement work.

Our innovation is also about doing things differently and not sticking all the time with slavish methods of analysis that sometimes miss the critical nuances of our quest, we extend these to make them more appropriate in the process of consulting that is at the heart of our work to help transform communities.

Diversity – The mix is richer than the pure

The world is full of infinite variety and diversity; that fact is what provides for progress and advancement. The diversity manifests in aesthetic and functional ways and shows that the one size fits all mentality of policymakers may sound and look brilliant on paper but is really not the only way to make policy in a multicultural multiethnic country such as Britain.

There are other viewpoints that are equally valid that help to impact positively on effective decision making. It is that diversity that we at Equinox Consulting believe must be celebrated at all times. So we consistently ask that the diversity of this country is recognised, that the people who through no fault of their own are traditionally uninvolved and excluded should be considered when decisions that affect them are being taken.

We assist through the work we do, whether in researching issues that affect minority groups or in helping to engage with ‘hard to reach groups to ensure that the different dimensions and views of the different groups are elicited so that the impact of the decisions on them can be assessed.

Our belief in diversity means that we are prepared to work endlessly towards providing equality of opportunity for disadvantaged communities; we hope that with the removal of old structures that sustained racial and other forms of discrimination we will work towards an attitude and culture change that will start accepting that it is time to start talking about the opportunity of outcomes and devising mechanisms for the paradigm shift.

The diversity we crave is about respecting all, whatever gender or race or age or sexual orientation or religion or ability. We hope that we are able to spread the word about valuing all these people and working to remove their disadvantage to that in the principle of equity the duty to provide opportunity and allow all to benefit from all services in an equal manner will be the norm.

Sensitivity – Adding equality and equity to quality

We recognise that most of our clients are delivering useful services to their deprived and disadvantaged communities. They do this with very little resources or support from the statutory sector.

They believe that the statutory sector does not understand them and does not value the work they do and therefore is unwilling to provide them with the resources.

As honest brokers undertake consultations where we are able to translate their views to the statutory sector; we also help explain the implication of government policy to our clients. We endorse the approach taken by African and Caribbean organisations to introduce cultural sensitivity to the delivery of their services; these attributes contribute to the quality of the offering and make their service delivery more effective.

We recognise that as Britain becomes more of a multicultural and multi-ethnic community there are tensions to be resolved often because of conflicting and contradictory needs of the different communities; we believe that it is critical to re-examine and redefine the basis of integration because the different communities all contribute to the economic and social advancement of this country.

Our belief is that the role of a management consultant is one of shedding light on issues but also one of adding value to the work of our clients and the communities that we serve. We continue to provide new approaches to resolving problems that are seen as intractable, which needs a certain amount of stepping aside to re-frame the important questions that need to be asked.

Our Vision

Our Vision – Transforming disadvantaged communities

Our vision is that inner-city areas where a large majority of black and minority ethnic and socially excluded people reside can be transformed into vibrant economic communities. We expect that our involvement will enable members of disadvantaged communities to contribute to and participate fully in economic, social and political activities and play their full citizenship roles.

We realise the most organisations are now organised as economic units even when they have been set up to address social issues or publicly funded and therefore we use methodologies and disciplines that provide the best value to our clients and their clients. We believe that as this country begins to celebrate the diversity inherent in a multicultural, multi-ethnic society, these communities of interest will through our intervention and strategies develop the necessary skills to provide tailor-made solutions to the particular problems that arise because of institutional racism.

We promise that the tangible results of our association with any organisation, be they profit or non profit-making concerns, will result in positive changes in their performance and future.

Our Qbjectives

Our Objectives – Providing objective analysis and independent management support

Our objectives are to deploy methodologies that would assist our clients in ultimately making improvements to the quality and level of services that they deliver. Central to our thinking however is the conviction that management consultancies are only relevant to organisations in a support role and that the purpose of our work is to assist in areas where independent and objective analysis is required to make informed decisions, transfer specialist skills, and shed light on issues that require new approaches and insights.

•We assist in areas where independent and objective analysis is required to make informed decisions, transfer specialist skills and shed light on issues that require new approaches and insights.
•We specialise in assisting to transform disadvantaged neighbourhoods into viable and sustainable communities
•We add value to our clients’ operations and help them overcome the major problems and obstacles to access finance and funding for their projects
•We empower clients to introduce strong and formal structures, adopt new cultures and introduce quality into the way they deliver services

Our People

Our People – Experienced and competent professionals

The principals in Equinox Consulting each have over 30 years experience of in delivering quality services and are

• Approved consultants under the NCVO scheme
• Certified Management Consultants
• Institute of Management Consultancy registered

We work with a network of associates who have expertise in:
•Economic development issues,
•Regeneration and renewal strategies,
•Diversity matters,
•Community development and capacity building,
•Enterprise promotion and employment initiatives
•Training and facilitation

Our Valuable Team Members

Maxine James
Maxine JamesPrincipal Management Consultant
Maxine is a management consultant with several years experience in small business development, support and capacity building for community groups, management and personal development training for clients in the public and private sectors. She is one of the original partners who set up Equinox.…read more
Ade Sawyerr
Ade SawyerrManagement Consultant
Ade is a management consultant with several years experience of working on economic, enterprise and community development issues. He is a founding partner at Equinox Consulting a consultancy set up 28 years ago to provide an integrated approach of consultancy, training, and research.…read more
Allotey Bruce-Konuah
Allotey Bruce-KonuahAssociate Management Consultant
Allotey is a Communications Design consultant with over 15 years experience in design for print and new media in creative industry.He is a founding partner at Lomi-Lomi Limited, a communications design consultancy that provide unique design solutions to clients and users alike.…read more

Our Clients

Our Clients – Empowering Clients: Proposing enduring solutions

Our clients come from all sectors of the economy

•International, Central and Local Government and Statutory Partnerships
•Voluntary Organisations and Community Groups
•Private sector and small, medium and micro businesses

We work on projects for socially excluded communities helping to design solutions to issues that present the greatest challenges to those who commission us because conventional structures or strategies have not achieved the desired impact.
As agents of change Equinox Consulting proposes new approaches to resolving these problems. We empower our clients to adapt to new organisational structures to enable them to respond positively to the dynamic changes around them. In all our dealings with our clients our focus remains the transformation of deprived and disadvantage communities into vibrant self sustainable communities. The tangible results of our association with any organisation are positive changes to their fortune.

Please find below a list of some of our clients over the years.

International, Central and Local Government and Statutory Partnerships Private sector and small, medium and micro businesses Voluntary Organisations and Community Groups
International Organization for Migration
International Finance Corporation
Department of Labour in Italy
Lambeth Council
Southwark Council
Department of Health
Focus Central London
The Home Office
Greater London Authority
Government Office for London
Jacaranda Tissue
Panaf Airlines
Christys Hair Salon
Deck Hair and Beauty
Chic Unique, Emiles
JJ Travel and Shipping
LA Campbell Travel
Voice Communications
Public Sector
Wealth Magazine
Black Teens
Scope Magazine
Project Lifestlye
Watford African Caribbean Association
National Council for Voluntary Organisations
Portsmouth Race and Equality Network Organisation
Brixton Splash
Black Training and Enterprise Group
SIA
Operation Black Vote
AFRUCA
Project Fullemploy

Our full client list
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Download Our Capability Statement