PA Consulting, a global innovation and transformation consultancy, has acquired The Cambridge Group (TCG), a Chicago-based growth strategy consulting firm.

Founded in 1975, TCG specializes in developing demand-driven strategies that maximize growth for clients in the consumer, retail, and healthcare industries. The firm’s offerings span corporate and business unit strategy, go-to-market activation, innovation and design, digital strategy, M&A, marketing strategy, pricing and promotion, and organization and culture.

TCG has more than 50 employees, according to LinkedIn.

The company is led by managing partners Jim Eckels and Chris Fosdick. Eckels has been at TCG since 2008, working with clients on improving profitable growth through marketing, innovation, sales, M&A, and organizational strategies. He previously spent a decade at Motorola, where he was general manager of the consumer software and services business within the company’s mobile devices division. Earlier in his career, Eckels was a consultant at Booz & Company (now PwC’s Strategy&).

Fosdick has been at TCG for 16 years, leading projects in growth strategy, product innovation, and brand and media strategy, among other areas. Prior to joining TCG, he worked in the media sector – developing, launching, and marketing television and online content for cable brands including MSNBC, SyFy, and USA Networks.

PA Consulting’s acquisition of TCG will enhance its growth and innovation strategy capabilities and add a new office in Chicago. The London-headquartered consultancy has other US offices in Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Concord, MA, Denver, New York, and San Francisco.

The move will also bolster PA’s consumer and retail sector practice. As buying behaviors shift, manufacturers and retailers are increasingly pressed to develop sustainable products, breakthrough innovations, and to decrease time-to-market. The TCG team will help PA better serve the needs of sector clients seeking competitive advantage. 

“We welcome The Cambridge Group team to PA,” Ken Toombs, CEO of PA Consulting, said. “The team brings valuable expertise in corporate and business growth strategy, go-to-market activation, innovation, and pricing that align perfectly with PA’s end-to-end innovation positioning. Together we can create even more innovative growth strategy offerings for our clients.”

PA delivers end-to-end innovation for clients, accelerating new growth ideas from concept through design, development, and commercial success. The firm also supports organizations in transforming their leadership, culture, systems, and processes to support innovation.

“We are thrilled to join PA Consulting, an organization we’ve long admired and align well with,” Eckels said. “PA’s unique ability to take innovation from concept to prototype to launch will bring our strategy recommendations to market in ways that create even greater value for our clients.”

PA has more than 4,000 consultants across offices in Europe and the US. The firm is a part of engineering consultancy Jacobs. 

PA earlier this year acquired Design Partners, an Ireland-based product design and innovation agency.