Listed Manchester-based Northcoders has long been known for changing how people enter the tech industry.
Now, its subsidiary Counter is setting its sights on how technology consultancy works.
The new consultancy business is led by Northcoders veteran Amul Batra and aims to challenge traditional consultancy models that Batra believes are “no longer fit for purpose” in a fast-changing digital economy.
From teaching tech to delivering transformation
Batra, who joined Northcoders in 2016 after an entrepreneurial career spanning the music industry and tech, said Counter was born from years of listening to the frustrations of employers who worked with consultancies that didn’t always deliver value.
“After working with businesses across the UK, it became clear that traditional tech consultancy models aren’t always designed to deliver the best outcomes for companies,” he told BusinessCloud.
“That was the insight that inspired us to start Counter.”
Counter allows the group to embed its own engineers, many of whom trained through Northcoders’ bootcamps, directly into client projects in an attempt to bridge the gap between talent creation and delivery.
Breaking the consultancy mould
Batra described the business as a “challenger brand” built around fairness, transparency and long-term impact.
“The onshore consultancy model has some built-in challenges,” he explained.
“Often, it’s in a consultancy’s favour to get paid without necessarily doing what’s best for the client.
“That can mean overcomplicating solutions, deploying more people than needed, and still getting paid even if deadlines slip.
“We immerse ourselves with the client to understand what they need and hire teams specifically to meet their goals.
“Every team has a tech lead who ensures they integrate smoothly and deliver on expectations.”
One distinctive feature of the model is client ownership of talent, as businesses can take on consultants as full-time employees at no extra cost, making sure that skills and knowledge stay in-house.
Building for precision and avoiding burnout
Unlike large consultancies that keep a “bench” of underused staff, Counter only hires for live work.
This means it operates with 100% utilisation, as every consultant is engaged on a worthwhile project.
Batra said: “It comes down to precision. We hire the right people for the work that clients actually need completing.
“When you match skills to work and culture to client, quality stays high, and burnout is avoided.”
Project wins
Counter’s approach has already won traction with clients such as Skipton Building Society and Manchester Airports Group, where it recently launched the new East Midlands Airport website.
“Our model works best when it’s collaborative,” said Batra, who still serves as chief partnerships officer at Northcoders.
“Sometimes that means supporting delivery so in-house teams can focus on strategic work; in others, it’s delivering complex technical projects end-to-end.
“It’s about giving the client exactly what they need – not what we want to sell them.”
Combining AI with people power
As the consultancy scales, AI and machine learning are at the forefront of the firm’s plans for the future.
Batra explained: “AI models aren’t ‘set and forget’ – they need people who can ensure long-term effectiveness.
“That’s where we come in. We don’t just build proofs of concept; we provide the people who can maintain and improve them after launch.”
Lessons from Northcoders
The managing director believes that the foundations from within Northcoders gives the company somewhat of a unique headstart.
“At Northcoders, we created a ‘win-win-win’ model where our trainees succeeded, their employers succeeded and the business succeeded,” he explained.
“At Counter, the goal is similar: clients get the skills they need, consultants build meaningful careers and the business thrives.
“We’ve spent years training people, understanding how teams succeed, and building trust with employers.
Counter is the natural next step – taking that experience and applying it to how technology is actually delivered.”
Disrupting the model
Batra’s ambition is to disrupt the consultancy model at scale, embedding teams in dozens of businesses with a purpose.
“The ultimate goal is to help companies solve people and technology challenges efficiently and effectively,” he said.
“We want to prove that doing the right thing for clients is also the smartest business model.
“We helped change how people get into tech.
“Now we want to change how tech gets done.”