Our latest thinking on the issues that matter most in economic and social development through our Viewpoint series, and our latest published reports. Our older Viewpoint ‘thought piece’ publications are available from the archive.
February 2021
A toolkit to share the learning emerging from the evaluation of the Macmillan Local Authority Partnership Programme is now available. The evaluation spanned three years and involved partnerships between Macmillan and localities in four areas of the UK.
February 2021
Research England commissioned SQW to develop an initial framework for identifying potential ecosystem ‘city pairs’, focusing on the UK and USA. The framework was intended to be a pragmatic and quick-to-implement tool for identifying potential city pairs that could have comparable ecosystems.
October 2020
Our analysis of almost 300 company survey responses shows that during the Covid crisis SME manufacturers have been squeezed between sharply weakening demand and poorer supplier performance.
August 2020
Major service change (often called ‘reconfiguration’) may be required to make services safer, more sustainable and improve population health. SQW conducted over 110 in-depth interviews to help NHS England and NHS Improvement understand what it can do to better facilitate and support reconfiguration in areas including specialised commissioning, A&E, maternity, stroke and mental health services.
July 2020
Covid-19 will lead to a major increase in unemployment. Any response needs to be done with urgency and therefore without perfect foresight. We have highlighted a series of insights from our work which could help to improve the effectiveness of different responses in the coming months.
May 2020
The £250 million Midlands Engine Investment Fund was launched by the British Business Bank in 2017 to support small businesses in the Midlands. Our Early Assessment Report found that the Fund has helped to create 629 jobs, with 37 per cent paying above the UK upper quartile income of £36,500 a year.