Projects
We've worked with some amazing clients. Here is a selection of our favourite case studiesÂ
innovate uk
evaluation - rto/catapult grant scheme
We have most recently been engaged by Exemplas to carry out a £18.5k evaluation of the RTO/Catapult grant scheme for 2022-23. This highly focussed impact evaluation has included the design of a beneficiary survey to specifically understand the impact of the grant scheme and the value added throughout the process at the various touchpoints. We have interviewed all members of the delivery team, selected Catapults, RTOs and IUK Delivery Partners, as well as key stakeholders from IUK and central Government. This evaluation will be delivered in an extremely tight timescales of just 4 weeks.
University of Warwick
evaluation - digital innovation for manufacturing
The team have recently completed the final Summative Assessment as part of a three-year engagement with Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) to deliver a £36k evaluation of their £5m DI4M (digital innovation) programme. Our previous reports provided the team with important specific insights (responding to their agreed needs) comprehensive conclusions and pragmatic recommendations regarding acquisition, impact reporting and project excellence during delivery.
Our immersion in all phases of this project has given us current and valuable insights into the challenges faced by businesses looking to embed new digital manufacturing processes (Industry 4.0). There are elements of the WMG project which are best practice, but the team aspire to excellence, and we have worked with them to improve project processes and measure impact.
queen marys university, london
evaluation - cvd hub
We were engaged by QMUL in Autumn 2022 on two separate (but linked) contracts (£35k) to carry out the Summative Assessment of the CVDHub, and to support the team in the commercialisation of the service (cumulative value £35k). Our work has led us to a deeper understanding of the challenges posed by delivering business support inside a University, improved the team’s knowledge of the commercial barriers and how to overcome them. We have learned the complexities of developing a product in the medi-tech sector. Our Summative Assessment was delivery in March and our commercial support is due to be completed by the end of September. 2023.
plus x innovation
evaluation - Central research laboratory
A £25k evaluation of a project run in the old EMI vinyl factory in Hayes focussed on supporting hardware Start Ups in particular those in the Digital Sub-sectors of The Internet of Things (IoT) and Wearable Technologies. The work has involved analysis of two aspects of delivery - the project’s Boot Camp and Accelerator activities - to understand the impact on an business trying to commercialise ideas, the personal impacts experienced by the individual, levels of satisfaction and contribution to the wider economy. In addition, the CRL team are interested in increasing the survival rate of beneficiaries (a significant number of start ups fail). Our evaluation approach has been designed to assess all these key metrics and meet/exceed DLHUC requirements.
hethel innovation
evaluation - breakthrough
Analysis of the Economic Impact of a New Anglia LEP area cross sector innovation led support initiative. This work (a £15k project) included liaison with a complex partnership/network of stakeholders including Delivery Partners, Industry Bodies Universities, similar Initiatives, the relevant infrastructure, and the LEP. Our outputs have included: Insightful Case Studies, a fully compliant Summative Assessment and a Summary Evaluation containing key findings/learnings for distribution across the partnership. This Summative Assessment was conducted entirely remotely without interruption during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Plus X Innovation
evaluation - brite
A summative assessment of the highly successful BRITE project, which supported 150 ambitious entrepreneurs and business owners in Brighton, the Coast to Capital region, and beyond – to collaborate, innovate and grow. Our work included a review of the 5 key delivery programmes which were co-designed between Plus X and University of Brighton, including the renowned Profitnet© and Inspire. This evaluation included a more strategic look at the wider impact of support, and explored the key themes of Collaboration, Impact and Future Funding – ensuring that the final report served both partners with their ongoing aspirations to support innovation.
New anglia LEP
evaluation - programme portfolio
This £40k evaluation project, covering the LEP portfolio of programmes, included three programme evaluations (£65m of grants/loans) and a high level review of the LEP programme portfolio. Indiviudal programmes included the Growing Business Fund; large grants to key local manufacturers, Growing Places Fund; large infrastructure grants and the Eastern Agri-tech Initiative; small grants to a key local sector. The team also produced an 18-page Board Level Summary report to include all the key findings, conclusions, and recommendations
University of the West of England
evaluation - health tech hub
The project team required an external contractor to undertake an independent and compliant beneficiary survey for the purpose of their own Summative Assessment (in particular Annex B Summative Assessment Report Summary) in order to establish the economic impact of the project. The team delivered a report that exceeded the original brief including analysis of; key impacts of support on new product/service development, business processes impacted by support and the influence on individual behaviour (then and now). This gave the team an in-depth picture of both the long-term economic impact and short term ‘softer’ impacts.
Department for international trade
Design - ERDF Internationalisation fund
A 4-year contract to design and implement the first ever national programme of ERDF funded export support delivered by a Government department. Our work included alignment of national policies, business case development, facilitation, liaising with multiple departmental teams, engaging LEPs, managing inputs, creating evidence bases, building match funding models, options analysis, writing OJEU level procurement inputs, drafting both outline and full applications, designing operating procedures, delivery policies, working with Capita to design the ground-breaking online application process, and ensuring everything met ERDF compliancy.
wiltshire council
evaluation - porton science park
A Summative Assessment of the ERDF funded HLSI Hub delivered by the Wessex and WoE Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs). This project assisted early stage and pre-start SMEs and entrepreneurs in creating new and innovative products for the Health and Life Sciences sector. The Summative Assessment measured the net additional economic impact and, based on specific insights, made a series of strategic recommendations to raise the performance of future projects.
new anglia LEp
evaluation - business growth programme
Members of our team have been engaged by New Anglia LEP to deliver £86k Evaluation and Summative Assessment services to their Business Growth Programme (BGP), a mixed ERDF grant and support project since 2016. We have delivered four annual evaluations and are currently working on the final Summative Assessment. The BGP’s Small Grants Scheme has awarded over 50% of its grants to manufacturing businesses through the course of delivery. Throughout delivery, the team have been focused on
measuring impact, project improvement, identifying challenges and supporting implementation, providing solutions to specific problems including challenges with SME acquisition, over-complex governance, and unexploited management information. All evaluation activity has continued without interruption during the Covid-19 pandemic.
University of east anglia
evaluation - inCrops
We conducted a final evaluation over a very tight timescale of the £5.2m ERDF funded InCrops project. The structure of the evaluation focussed on performance and impact and consisted of 6 key elements – inception and exploration, desk research, interviews with project team, stakeholders and beneficiaries, assessment of project processes, delivery models and their linkage with results and impact, quantitative analysis including a comprehensive online beneficiary survey, and dissemination of findings. The evaluation was deemed so successful that the University partnered with us on a subsequent proposal to deliver an evaluation in Wales and we still maintain a good relationship with members of the InCrops team.
new anglia LEp
design - scale up new anglia
The team have recently assisted New Anglia LEP to design a bespoke impact collection process tailored to the Scale Up New Anglia programme. The aim of the process is to demonstrate the projects impact on the economy, the business and participants in the activity. This work was supplemented by the design of a comprehensive application form to meet MHCLG/DLUHC/LEP requirements and ensure the project was capturing rich baseline data on the business/individual to enable comparison during impact collection/reporting. We also used an innovative method to capture the required data and provide the team with a steer of which support would be most suitable for the applicant.
Wiltshire Council
evaluation - Health and life science innovation hub
A Summative Assessment of the ERDF funded HLSI Hub delivered by the Wessex and WoE Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs). This project assisted early stage and pre-start SMEs and entrepreneurs in creating new and innovative products for the Health and Life Sciences sector. The Summative Assessment measured the net additional economic impact and, based on specific insights, made a series of strategic recommendations to raise the performance of future projects.
lincoln science and innovation park (LSIP)
design, development, evaluation - lincoln grow-on-space
We have recently completed a 4-year engagement with LSIP where we worked alongside the Director of the Science Park to support the design of the £3m Lincoln Grow-on-space project - the construction of the Alchemy Building, and a small business support element. Our role covered the production of the outline and full applications, ERDF technical support throughout, mini 'audits' to check compliance, management of procurement processes, advice and guidance, and a final summative assessment.
plymouth city council
evaluation - c-care interreg cross channel programme
Following the success of our C:Care evaluation work in Norfolk and Suffolk, we were engaged by Plymouth City Council to evaluate the C-Care programme, consisting of 4 UK partners (Kent County Council, Plymouth City Council, New Anglia LEP and Norfolk County Council) and 3 French Partners Conseil Départemental du Finistère, Pas-de-Calais Tourisme and Campus d’Enseignement Supérieure et de Formation Professionnelle’. The work involved the design of a data collection and assessment methodology for the entire programme, development of an innovation toolkit and a emergency recovery toolkit, as well as a final evaluation of all 18 interventions and dissemination at the closing event.
new anglia lep
evaluation - c-care Norfolk and suffolk
Between July and October 2021, we evaluated the Norfolk and Suffolk response to the COVID 19 pandemic as part of the C-Care programme. We were asked to examine specific interventions in depth and to draw conclusions in line with the strategic aims of the Interreg FCE Programme. Over the course of our work, we reviewed programmes delivered by Norfolk County Council, Suffolk County Council, Various District Councils, Community Groups and the LEP. This evaluation covered the Skills and Employability theme in detail including reviews of The Employer Training Incentive Programme (ETIP), Recruit, Retain, Reward (RRR), the Employment Platform and Kickstart in the LEP area.
white rock neighbourhood ventures
design - the observer building
ESIF Technical Support to design and support the application process for a £1.2m ERDF/ESF funded development in Hastings. The aim of the project was to renovate the Observer Building with a total floorspace of 3,641m2 - split between leisure (2,067m2), offices (378m2) and residential (1,196m2). The project was centred around providing workspace and opportunities to individuals and businesses from surrounding LSOAs. This work included the production of compliant policies and procedures, development of Procurement and Sustainability Strategies, the granular budget and output tables. The support element of the project had targets of supporting 40 SMEs and 15 Start Ups with an aim of creating 10 jobs.
london and partners
design - london growth network
Project design, development and bid writing for £6.1m ESIF London Growth Network project for both Outline and Full Application stages. In addition, we supported the team with the mobilisation of the Mayors International Business Project, including working with four Blue Chip delivery partners, and preparing the L&P team for the Project Initiation Visit.
North east chamber of commerce
design - expanding NE presence in overseas markets
Project design, development and bid writing services to produce Outline and Full applications, handle technical appraisal, project set-up, mobilisation and management of the £4.2m ERDF Expanding North East Presence in International Markets project. Including providing the NECC project team with mentoring, ERDF technical advice and direct support in the management of their £200,000 Innovation in Services Fund.
d2n2 lep
evaluation - growth hub
A £30k Summative Assessment of the D2N2 LEPs Growth Hub. The focus was on understanding whether the Growth Hub was delivering the correct range of services to address business need, and to look at the success of those activities. As part of our work, we also spent some time analysing the success of the Business Innovation Fund. We made a series of recommendations off the back of our desk research, interviews and beneficiary survey. Our interim report helped influence the next phase of Growth Hub delivery and our final report evidenced the excellent impact the Growth Hub support had delivered.
Hallmark veterinary and compliance services
design - meat official controls scotland
A Scottish Government contract covering all regions. This tender was for the provisions of Meat Inspectors (MHIs) in Food Business Operators (FBOs). The project required proactive collaboration with HallMark Senior Management, staff, Regional Managers and field workers to produce a compliant and high quality bid which was successful in securing the contract.
north east lincolnshire council
evaluation - smart energy north east lincolnshire
This work has given the team vital insights into the all the issues currently faced by CRF projects across the country and has enabled us to understand the situation regarding the late publication of output guidance and the potential impact on activity which has already been undertaken. Our familiarity with the ERDF Summative Assessment model (used for CRF) has enabled us to begin a highly informed evaluation of this programme, its processes and measure impact to ensure we deliver a compliant CRF evaluation against all current published guidance.