• HOME
• ABOUT
• CLIENTS
• WORK
• INSIGHT
• CONTACT

• COMMUNITIES
• ECONOMIES
• SKILLS
• ENTERPRISE

• NEWS

The need to understand how economies work has never been greater. The temptation today is to be overwhelmed by challenges that feel unprecedented in their scale and the speed of their appearance. Local economies appear vulnerable to global forces that national governments are unable to tackle. The only solution, it seems, is to wait until the crisis passes.

At Consulting Inplace we try to take a more measured approach to understanding the economic challenges of today. We analyse local and regional economies in terms of the underlying drivers of their competitiveness, and we take views on what the analysis implies for long term success. These drivers include skills, entrepreneurship, the knowledge base, connectivity, quality of place and strategic capability.

We also look at clusters and sectors, such as tourism, retail or financial services, both to understand their performance at the local or regional level, and to understand why some local economies do better than would be expected given their sectoral structure, while others do worse. We advise clients on how to strengthen key clusters and sectors, given their distinctive local or regional characteristics.

We are often asked by clients to consider the implications of alternative scenarios for key economic measures, including worklessness, property values, and office and retail demand. We also undertake evaluations to assess whether policy interventions have had their desired economic consequences. We are experienced in using the RDA Impact Evaluation Framework, and we understand, for example, the importance of identifying the geographical distribution of any impact, and the ways in which different geographical economies link together.

Click on the links for examples of some of our projects. And please contact us to discuss how we might help you.

SEEDA: Physical Regeneration Evaluation

We were commissioned undertook an Impact Evaluation Framework (IEF) compliant economic impact-focused evaluation of the Agency’s physical regeneration activities between 2002 and 2007. The evaluation was one of a number of IEF-compliant Economic Impact Evaluations (EIA) commissioned to inform BERR’s National Evaluation of RDA spending

The physical regeneration evaluation focused on a sample of 13 projects delivered through three spatial clusters and therefore, the key stakeholders included project partners and interested parties (e.g. developers; English Partnerships, local authorities, and representatives from a variety of 3rd sector orgs.).

The delivery method adopted was IEF-compliant therefore it focused on addressing a number of key IEF requirements, specifically: adopting a particular focus on economic impact to ensure that we identified net additional impacts of projects and high-level strategic measurement of outcomes; the assessment of additionality factors using a logic-chain approach which enabled direct, indirect and unintended outcomes of SEEDA’s interventions to be established and quantified in full to identify net outcomes at both project and theme levels through extrapolation of the data obtained and capturing key lessons learnt at all levels, including the delivery of projects and the programme as a whole.

An evaluation framework was devised – based on the requirements of the IEF. As part of this process, a number of research tools were developed for gathering information on a qualitative and quantitative basis for four main categories of consultees, specifically: project partners and key stakeholders; on-site businesses; local businesses (within 10 miles of the development site); and local residents.

---

Bradford Metropolitan District Council – Analysis for a New Economic Development Strategy for Bradford

We were commissioned by Bradford Metropolitan District Council (BDMC) to provide analysis for a new Economic Strategy for Bradford District. The assignment concentrated on four thematic areas that BMDC felt that it had little detailed knowledge: Economic Migration, International Trade, Business Competitiveness, and Risks and Scenario Planning.

For each of these areas, the specific aims of this piece of work were to: outline Bradford's current situation and its relative performance, highlight the key issues affecting Bradford and how these were having an impact on positive economic development and to develop a series of strategic options and recommendations to move Bradford forward. The project used four themed approaches to provide all the information required for the economic development strategy. The four approaches were: data collection from work undertaken previously by key project partners; analysis of collected data including strategic reviews to identity policy gaps or potential synergies; identification of the key issues or barriers to strategic development; and the development of innovative strategic options to address the issues previously identified.

---

Hastings Borough Council and Thanet District Council – ERDF Objective Two Programme Evaluation

As the end of the South East ERDF Objective Two Programme approached, Hastings Borough Council, Thanet District Council and Government Office for the South East (GOSE) commissioned us to evaluate the regional Programme between 2000 -2008. The evaluation sought to assess the impact of the £25 million Programme against programme targets and to examine both quantitative and qualitative results.

The study entailed selecting a sample of the total projects funded through the programme. The sample was selected so as to be representative of the four programme themes; business support and innovation; spatial development; heritage culture and the environment; and community economic development. Factors such as geography and the size and timing of the investment, were also considered. Using the sample we undertook some thirty case studies to examine the impact and effectiveness of the programme, undertaking additionality and sustainability assessments for each. In addition, we assessed the strategic impact and effectiveness of the programme, adapting the Impact Evaluation Framework (IEF) guidance, developed for regional development agencies, for this purpose.

Finally, we assessed the sustainability of outputs that had been achieved and considered the external funding options available to both Thanet and Hastings now the Objective two programme had ceased. Drawing on this, we developed an action plan for both Districts moving forward with the aim of improving future service delivery, reducing the degradation of impacts that had been achieved and increasing economic output.

---

South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA) – Evaluation of SEEDA’s Tourism Programme

There are a variety of delivery models for supporting tourism throughout the English regions. SEEDA invest over £2million directly into tourism each year, most of which is allocated to Tourism South East (TSE), a membership body working at local, regional, national and international level to support the tourism sector. SEEDA required an Impact Evaluation Framework (IEF) compliant evaluation of their investment into TSE and an analysis of their delivery model to establish future funding commitments.

We consulted with 30 businesses and 40 stakeholders alongside analysis of key output data. We conducted a process assessment focusing the current delivery model, governance structures, engagement and partnering activity, and equality and sustainability agenda. We also conducted an impact assessment focusing on the economic impact of SEEDA’s investment. This included looking at the extent to which TSE were successful at leveraging funding for physical regeneration, analysing numbers of jobs created and understanding the impact of TSE’s marketing spend.
We recommended that SEEDA continues its funding in TSE for the next three years and should recognise the value for money which TSE generates. We also proposed closer working with the South East’s sub regions including a single point of contact for each sub region within the TSE central organisation.