Learning and Development Consultants: 11 L&D Firms Compared

EY's UK learning page describes a marketing academy for a global pharmaceutical company. EY teams co-created it with 100+ stakeholders, ran focus groups with 72 marketers across nine countries and built 134 on-demand modules; the page says the academy earned an Excellence in Capability Development Award. A second case describes a learning academy for a large defense organization. A third covers managed learning for a large public sector client whose system spans over 500,000 learners in 90+ organizations; EY reports 250+ bespoke programs delivered and more than 10,000 hours of executive coaching. None of the three clients is named, and the cases carry no dates.

The services listed there run from learning diagnostics and skills frameworks to measurement approaches and learning ecosystem design. EY's US learning and development page (opens in a new tab) adds leadership development programs, assessments and coaching. EY member firms are separate legal entities, so confirm which country team would run the work.

In a learning strategy case GP Strategies published in 2026, a telecom provider in Brazil replaced fragmented training with a corporate university and a single learning framework. More than 10,000 learning objects were consolidated into 3,500, and 82,600 employees were trained. The headline "400% efficiency gain" refers to cutting the time to update and publish course content from two hours to 30 minutes. The client is not named.

The learning strategy service (opens in a new tab) covers an assessment of the L&D function, the operating model and governance, and measurement. Its advisory page (opens in a new tab) described a Learning Organization Health Assessment in October 2026, an eight-week diagnostic that ends with a roadmap. The firm also runs managed learning, including supplier sourcing across 3,400+ vetted partners. Its about page (opens in a new tab) gives 1966 as its founding year and says it is part of Learning Technologies Group.

Liberate is the brand under which EI Design, MPS Europa and Liberate Learning now operate. Its case for Australia's Department of Social Services describes an independent consultation with assessors and employer representatives that began in November 2017. The training that followed was implemented on June 30, 2018: ten interactive eLearning modules, seven video animations and 40 checklists and process maps used as job aids.

Its strategy and advisory service covers needs analysis and performance gap assessments, competency models, the mix of delivery formats, governance and measurement frameworks. Engagements range from short, tightly specified projects to enterprise L&D partnerships. Archived copies of these pages from April 2026 support the service description and the case.

Mindtools Kineo's consultancy and insights page describes a behavioral study for Phoenix Group, where pre- and post-intervention studies showed a 24% rise in employees' ability to find security guidance and a 16% increase in reporting. An engagement analysis for Virgin trains found a 24% rise in engagement after a first campaign and 123% after a second. A third example, a multi-phase L&D roadmap for an unnamed international bank, is described without figures. The firm, formerly Kineo, offered a free 30-minute consultation in October 2026.

The consultants offer workshops, performance needs analysis and learner research, skills and capability mapping, and recommendations on learning design, delivery and technology. The firm also sells off-the-shelf content, custom learning and platforms; its custom services page (opens in a new tab) reports 500+ custom projects and a testimonial from Laura Flynn of UMass Memorial.

A Bain Academy brochure from 2020 describes a one-day strategic-thinking bootcamp for nine junior team members at an unnamed software company, a client of Bain, built around three learning objectives and the client's own case examples.

Bain Academy is Bain & Company's client learning business. Its page describes immersive and interactive learning tailored to a team's business challenges, and three phases of AI capability building. Bain reports 950+ clients served and 95,000+ learners trained across Bain Academy.

In its Credicorp case (opens in a new tab), CCL identified 18 leadership competencies and delivered a core program to the top 500 leaders across all business units, each working with an executive coach on a development plan. Credicorp's director of talent, Ursula Alvarez, brought CCL in after earlier outside providers had "missed the mark", the case says. The case says Credicorp was still evolving the strategy with CCL after five years.

A Barclaycard case (opens in a new tab) describes a custom program, designed with Ashridge Business School, of two three-day sessions held six weeks apart. Over two years 120 managers took part, and in the teams they led, 80% said they felt more empowered and 70% more engaged. The custom leadership development page (opens in a new tab) describes programs built around the client's strategy and culture, with data and dashboards used to assess needs and evaluate impact. CCL says it has worked in leadership development for 50+ years and has been trusted by two-thirds of the Fortune 1000.

For Caterpillar, WDHB co-designed a hybrid program of 10 modules for emerging managers, run in cohorts of 35 and scaled to 150 to 200 managers a year; the firm reports nearly 1,000 managers developed since 2023. The same consulting page describes programs that engaged over 1,500 L'Oréal leaders, with a testimonial from Stracy Shen, vice president of human relations for L'Oréal North Asia and China. It also describes a partnership with TF1's corporate academy that began in 2015 and delivered 35+ programs to 750+ participants over 19 months.

WDHB was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989. Its advisory work covers the purpose and governance of the L&D function, curriculum architecture and programs for global rollouts. WDHB says each engagement builds internal capability through toolkits, operating models or train-the-trainer support. Its L&D strategy page (opens in a new tab) adds a GenAI learning expedition for Siemens leaders.

For Delta Air Lines, AllenComm ran a needs analysis and performance consulting before designing new onboarding, which the firm says won multiple Gold Brandon Hall Group awards. For a follow-on program for Below Wing agents, it reports a 96% pass rate. Its performance consulting page (opens in a new tab) adds a PNC case, an enterprise-wide accessibility learning journey for managers, employees and contractors. The consultants run needs or gap analysis, curriculum evaluation and learner assessment and analytics, using a method the firm calls Performance Mapping, which starts from what people need to do on the job.

The portfolio (opens in a new tab) lists training projects for clients including LEGO, Kraft Heinz and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, and the homepage carries testimonials from Kraft Heinz and AONL. The quotation on the consulting page comes from an SVP at Brandon Hall Group, an industry analyst firm; it is an endorsement from outside the client base. AllenComm says it has worked in the field for 40+ years.

Visa's director of L&D services is quoted on Clarity's homepage: "We could not have achieved all that we did in such a short time if it had not been for Clarity." Its success stories identify clients by type, such as AI-driven training for a Fortune 100 retailer and leadership cohesion work for a global medical device company.

The firm offers three models: on-demand specialists (instructional designers, learning experience designers, project managers, multimedia developers and LMS specialists), project-based teams and managed learning services. Its services include learning strategy, instructional design, eLearning, delivery and organizational development. Clarity's homepage reports that 70% of Fortune 200 companies trust it, a 95% project success rate and 10,000+ training programs delivered, without saying how they are measured.

Cummins reached 89% sales training adoption, and Hilton 55.5% skills growth from a custom sales skills program, according to case titles on Unboxed's client success page, which also lists Delta pilot training, Performance Food Group, Bristol Myers Squibb and Axalta. Its consulting page (opens in a new tab) quotes learning leaders at Alkermes, AbbVie and Hilton Hotels & Resorts.

The consulting runs from discovery and learning strategy (capability models, learning architectures and success metrics) to content, coaching and measurement. Unboxed also sells a learning platform, so the strategy and the technology come from the same supplier.

TKMS ATLAS UK has used Optimus's managed learning service since April 2024; the firm's case studies report that it saved over 40 hours of administration a month and reduced direct training costs by 10%. The firm says it has supported over 1,400 Maersk employees with their learning and reports savings for Vocalink Mastercard and Shelter. These cases describe training sourcing and managed learning; none is a consultancy-only engagement.

Its FAQ (opens in a new tab), last updated in August 2024, states the terms more fully than any other firm here, so confirm them in the proposal. Optimus does not deliver training itself; it sources from more than 1,500 providers and describes itself as vendor neutral. The managed service carries a service fee that depends on the number of events managed over a fixed period, usually a year. For L&D consultancy (opens in a new tab), an account manager presents at least three consultants with their background and rates, and there is no minimum contract length.