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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS SERVICES
We help places and industries to understand what businesses need from them to succeed
WHAT WE DO
We design, evaluate, and evidence business-centred interventions in economic development. We analyse what changes in the world of business, public policy, and technology mean for places and industries. We translate the latest research from leading academic institutions and thinkers into real-world programmes. Read more about our projects and what our clients say about us.
Shifting expectations around customer and vendor relationships
What does this mean for the operation of business support services in the UK?
OUR OFFER
We empower business representative groups and networks, government, economic development bodies, civic-minded corporates and consultancies.
COMMUNITY-FOCUSED RESEARCH
We build evidence bases for the business-centred interventions in economic development. We design surveys, workshops, and focus groups of business leaders to understand the impact of changes in their economic environment. In recent years we have supported Chambers of Commerce with the analytical demands of employer-led skills planning in England (Local Skills Improvement Plans); supported business groups and local government to understand the barriers to adoption of new technologies; and designed and evaluated business support programmes. Working closely with both government and the private sector has earned PolicyDepartment a reputation as a trusted intermediary between these two perspectives: we have even worked with clients to publish 'translation guides' to promote better understanding of each other's worlds and build stronger partnerships.
PROGRAMME DESIGN AND SYSTEM REVIEWS
We translate the latest research from leading academic institutions and thinkers into real-world policy solutions. We design, appraise, and evaluate business support projects, programmes, and area-based initiatives. We draw on years of experience stretching back to the regional reviews of enterprise support in England in the 2000s. But business support must be forward-looking. Technology, changes to working practices and structural shifts in economies are constantly re-shaping the success factors for business in the 21st century. We bring our direct experience of these developments into our work.
WHY US?
EXPERIENCE
We draw on two decades of experience commissioning, leading and producing high-impact analyses including the UK’s largest private poll of business conditions: the Quarterly Economic Survey at the British Chambers of Commerce. Our work covers the range of what businesses need from their location - from skills to finance, development sites to support for tech adoption, and more.
AGILITY
Our skills were honed in major 'change moments', including the Coronavirus pandemic, the financial crisis of 2007-8, the Brexit referendum of 2016 and the no-deal Brexit deadlines of 2019.
QUALITY
We produce high-quality, readable analysis - not impenetrable data dumps. We know that research reports in themselves are not the endgame. The follow-up is crucial and the approach of our team reflects that. We work with our clients to get solutions funded and publicise their priorities.
VALUE
We don’t have the overheads of a major research agency: we work with freelancers and others to meet the scale of your needs.
