Double-barrelled surname consultants in cost inflation shock

Research undertaken by a leading UK non-departmental public agency has revealed that consultants with double-barrelled surnames are on average one-and-a-half times more expensive than their single-barrelled rivals.

The chair of the agency’s Central Committee on Procurement has responded with a ban – effective as of today’s date – on contracting with further double-barrelled consultants.  An unnamed colleague on the agency’s research team, which had worked with the procurement team on a root-and-branch review of consultant input, said: “we’re not sure whether the double-barrel thing is causation or merely correlation.  We’ll be bringing in an external team to mine the data for a clearer picture”.