Implausibly, Larry Weinbach has brought it back, with a focus on service and consulting.

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The police said, after investigating and consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), it would not be pursuing criminal charges.

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With 140, 000 people in 2008, it operates as a quasi-silo, and handles IT-intensive administrative consulting for companies and government agencies, like customer service and payroll accounting.

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As Andersen Consulting's Mr Ferguson points out, once a firm is providing a service around a product, it may eventually find it more efficient to let someone else provide the product.

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