ABSTRACT
To divide consultants into big and small is of course artif icial – there is a size continuum. But there are a very large number of really small ones, many of them one-man outfits. They trade on being specialists in some field, and some may also trade on having the specialist equipment which is essential for it. The technical variety of subjects which all these people cover is huge, ranging from soil mechanics and geophysics through to biotechnology and precision machining.
