Economic development is about improving competitiveness at national, regional and local levels, and in relation to businesses, people and place. The dimensions of change encompass institutional capabilities and capacity and the size and quality of the business base, including the potential for innovation, infrastructure and physical environment, skills levels and workforce engagement and flexibility. Analysis must provide more than a static assessment, aiming to capture the extent and potential benefits of a distinctive market position. At a time of unusually limited resources, this will provide the basis for informed debate on opportunities, and determining priorities for overcoming constraints.
SQW brings vast experience of work on competitiveness agendas at local and city region level, for Government, devolved administrations, local authorities and emerging Local Enterprise Partnerships. Our work includes studies on development strategy, organisation structures, programme content, project feasibility and evaluating economic impact. We have substantial experience in developing and testing new agendas, against an institutional and policy framework which is not yet fully in place. We have undertaken many projects to understand economic interaction and potential across different geographies, including city-regions, the predominantly rural areas in between, and across administrative boundaries.
As new propositions are developed to lever positive change in economic performance and to reposition places, we anticipate a renewed emphasis on understanding the rationales for intervention, delivery mechanisms and what is critical for benefits to materialise. This requires a logical, multi-dimensional approach, including, but going beyond, Gross Value Added. We can draw on ground-breaking projects which have brought together and utilised expertise spanning business, innovation, physical development, the environment and sustainability, skills, institutional development and participation.
Examples of SQW projects
Emerging Local Enterprise Partnerships
SQW was appointed by Local Government Improvement and Development to a framework contract to provide support to Local Enterprise Partnerships. We were subsequently asked to produce two case studies, drawing lessons from leading Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Review of Local Enterprise Partnership submissions for private sector business support provider
SQW was commissioned by East Midlands Business Ltd, a major provider of business support and other services, to review outline Local Enterprise Partnership submissions in order to understand emerging thinking with regard to business support.
Support for Regional Growth Fund Bids
York and North Yorkshire Partnership, and its business partner NYnet, had already been selected by Government as a Broadband Delivery UK pilot area. SQW was asked to develop the economic case for additional funding to deliver NYnet’s business plan and roll out broadband across the predominantly rural areas of North Yorkshire. We drafted the Regional Growth Fund bid and provided the basis for a subsequent application to ERDF. We also helped develop Regional Growth Fund bids elsewhere, including in the urban West Midlands.
Local Economic Assessments
SQW was commissioned to work with Southampton City Council in preparing the area’s Local Economic Assessment (LEA). The LEA for Southampton was developed as a ‘local companion’ to the wider LEA for the Hampshire Economic Area, also produced by SQW. Both LEAs focused on five key themesoverall competitiveness, economic geography, people and communities, business and enterprise, and sustainable economic growth. They drew on published data sources and the evidence and information held by local stakeholders and partners. We have also worked on LEAs elsewhere, in northern Lincolnshire, in Surrey and for Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council.
Priorities and Action Planning for Shared Economic Development Services
We worked on a staged project with three smaller local authorities in Leeds City Region, developing an initial agenda and formulating an action plan for the cost-effective provision of shared economic development services. Alongside this work, we were also commissioned to develop a framework for capturing local assets and place-distinctiveness, which could be used to support the Leeds City Region offer to investors.
Study of City Regions and Rural Areas
SQW was commissioned, alongside Cambridge Econometrics, to investigate the impact of city regions on the economic role and performance of rural areas both within and outside city-region boundaries. The context for this study was the growing interest, at national, regional and local levels, in policies for functionally-defined city-regions. We reviewed the academic literature and emerging documents to develop a set of hypotheses to test the reasons why the performance of rural areas might be affected by city-region processes and policies. Then we tested the hypotheses using a wide range of data sources and statistical techniques. Finally, we sought to identify the implications by considering the results of the study in discussion with key policy-makers.
Development Planning for the Wolverhampton Telford Technology Corridor
We evaluated activities associated with the development of the Wolverhampton and Telford Technology Corridor against a range of parameters relating to productivity and innovation. Guidance was also provided to Advantage West Midlands as to future potential projects identified for development by the Corridor partners.
Evaluation of NESTA’s ‘Starter for Six’ Programme
SQW was commissioned to evaluate NESTA’s ‘Starter for Six’ programme for three consecutive years from 2007. The programme led aspiring entrepreneurs from creative backgrounds across Scotland through workshops, training and mentoring until they were ready to pitch their ideas to an investment panel. SQW’s evaluations followed participants through the initial support programme, assessed the resulting progress of the individual entrepreneurs (including their confidence, attitudes to risk and ability to run successful businesses), considered the roll-out of the peer mentoring element, and assessed impact over the three years.
Ceramics Cluster Study
SQW was commissioned by the Stoke-on-Trent City Council and North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership to undertake a study of the area’s ceramics cluster. The study included ceramics design and the manufacturing industry, and also the tourism sector associated with the Potteries.
Mapping Innovation Capabilities in Knowledge-Based Clusters within Cities and City Regions
SQW worked with the Yorkshire Key Cities Group (led by Leeds City Council) to map innovation capabilities in five ‘key cities’, setting these to relation to the city regions in Yorkshire and Humber. The project collated and mapped business-related research and development and innovation activity across leading sectors and clusters, outlining innovation-related capabilities and strengths, and produced recommendations for a Yorkshire and Humber ‘innovation baseline’ using the European Innovation Framework. We also tested demand for further high-level interventions, collaboration and networking across the Yorkshire and Humber Key Cities and produced a comprehensive costed action plan.
Equity Supply Side Research
SQW was commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to undertake a supply-side study updating research on the ‘equity gap’ affecting small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) seeking early stage equity capital. The aim of the research was to investigate whether an equity gap still existed and if so, what form it might take in terms of size and type of funding, business sectors affected and geographical variations within the UK. Our earlier work in this area included assessment of the Department for Trade and Industry’s ‘Investment Readiness’ regional pilots.
Economic Impact of Support for Inward Investment
SQW was commissioned to evaluate the economic impact and cost effectiveness of UK Trade and Investment support for attracting, growing and retaining Foreign Direct Investment and to assess and critically appraise the extent of knowledge spillovers from inward investment projects. The central part of the research was conducted through a series of in-depth case studies with foreign-owned c companies and their range of potential spillover recipients.
Evaluation of the Northern Way
SQW was commissioned to evaluate the economic and strategic impacts of the Northern Way between 2008 and 2011. This built on the phase 1 evaluation that we had undertaken of the impact arising from Northern Way intervention from 2004 to 2008. The 2008-11 evaluation considered the Transport, Innovation and Private Sector Investment Priority Themes as well as the Northern Way’s ongoing research programme and work with the city regions. The evaluation was undertaken in ‘real time’ and allowed for further innovative methods to capture Strategic Added Value, including online surveys and the ongoing capture of learning and strategic benefits.
ICT Cluster Study on International Trade
SQW was commissioned by Advantage West Midlands (AWM) to undertake a study on international trade within the region’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) cluster. The Agency wanted to understand the best way to stimulate and support increased international trade within this cluster. The project reviewed existing evidence on barriers to trade for SMEs, analysed data from a survey being run in parallel to this study and mapped out the current level of provision for ICT SMEs in the region. Then through a series of stakeholder interviews and case studies with ICT SMEs we sought to identify the appropriate interventions and actions for AWM and partners.