The market for freelance consultants is improving, according to the Professional Contractors Group (PCG), whose 11,700 members are mainly IT and management consultants. A PCG member survey carried out in May and June found that 81% of respondents were working on contracts during the research period, up from 77% the previous year. The PCG said the statistics confirm the view that the contractor market is improving, but consultants still face significant work issues. Those responding to the survey said taxation and changes in legislation ere their main concerns, followed by problems associated with finding new business, the economic environment, updating skills and marketing their businesses.

IT consultancy Detica has diversified into the products market through the launch of a subsidiary StreamShield Networks, offering tools for securing internet content. StreamShield’s technology is a by-product of Detica’s expertise in national security consultancy and information management. It will be available as a hardware-based networking product for service providers or as a managed service offered by service providers to business customers.

PA Consulting’s planned acquisition by Science Applications International (SAIC) has failed. Talks began in June but recently ran into trouble over due diligence and efforts to make detailed arrangements for the takeover. Neither company would disclose the reasons for the failure, but PA confirmed: “The two companies were unable to find mutually agreeable terms for the deal, so the discussions have been terminated.”

Business transformation consultancy Axon is pursuing international growth on the back of a strong financial performance in the UK. The consultancy, which works with $1 billion-plus corporations that have SAP as their strategic platform, said its international revenue increased 13% in the first half of 2004 to £7.2 million, encouraging the pursuit of further opportunities in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and the US. In total, first-half results showed significant gains,with pre-tax profit up 43.6% at £2.9 million.