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So Gary Day thinks it is "bonkers" to use external consultants to tell a university what makes it distinctive (Features, November 26).

The value of consultants is not that they know more about the institution than its staff, but that they can provide an objective perspective on what an institution wants to say about itself and put this in a competitive context. Universities do not spend a lot of time thinking in these terms (they have better things to do). They spend even less time thinking about what claims their competitors might be making for themselves. Consultants can provide a sounding board and filter.

Robert Mighall
Senior consultant, Lloyd Northover