News Article

Outer London Fund Evaluation

2012-05-21T08:46:05+00:00

Regeneris has been appointed to conduct an evaluation of Round 1 of the Mayor of London’s Outer London Fund.

The Outer London Fund (OLF) was launched by the Mayor in 2011 with the aim of strengthening the vibrancy and growth of Outer London’s high streets. The fund was distributed over two rounds, with the first round providing funding of £10 million to 30 areas across London.

Regeneris Consulting has been commissioned to evaluate the overall impact of GLA investment in Round One of the OLF, as well as the specific impacts in particular locations. The evaluation will identify key lessons learnt from the investments and will be used to inform future investment in regeneration activity in London by the GLA and its partner organisations. It will also provide a framework for evaluating government investment in place-based initiatives in the future.

Regeneris has a strong track-record in supporting area based investments in London and previously provided economic impact evidence as part of bids for Outer London Fund investment in locations including Hounslow, Rainham and Hornchurch. We also recently provided an economic impact appraisal as part of a LB Havering bid for funding from the London Growth Fund.

This evaluation is one of a number of evaluations we have recently delivered in London with other recent assignments including the Rainham Gateway Greenspace project, the East London Business Place project and the Dagenham Washlands Environmental Improvements project.

For more information on this project or our wider work in London, please contact Margaret Collins (m.collins@regeneris.co.uk) on 0207 608 7200.

BT Impact Study Launched

2012-04-24T16:08:22+00:00

A major new report by Regeneris Consulting on the economic impact of BT in the UK has been launched.

The study is a comprehensive analysis of the company’s impact on the UK and its regional and local economies. The work considers all of the sources of economic impact that a large business such as BT generates including: the direct employment and wealth creation by the firm; the impacts supported by its expenditure on suppliers; and impacts supported by the expenditure of employees. We have worked closely with BT to understand the nature and scale of its activities across the UK and have used our corporate impact modelling expertise to estimate its impact.

The results are impressive. Here are some of the headlines:

BT employs 86,000 people directly in the UK, equivalent to one in ten people working in the IT and communications sector.
The firm’s £7.6bn of expenditure on external suppliers in 2010/11 supports over 100,000 jobs.
The expenditure of all employees supported by BT supports a further 80,000 jobs.
Combining all of these effects, BT employs the equivalent of one in every sixty people working in the private sector in the UK. £1 in every £70 of Gross Value Added generated in the UK is as a result of BT’s activities.

Almost uniquely, the firm has a presence throughout the UK. It is an important employer for many local areas, both directly and indirectly. For example, in Milton Keynes, 1 in 7 private sector jobs is supported by the full impact of BT and in Darlington, £1 in every £9 of salaries earned by local residents is attributable to the company’s activities. The report summarises the economic contribution BT makes to each of the UK regions and nations and to the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England, created by the Coalition to drive economic development and regeneration.

Our report also assesses the wider economic impact of BT’s investment in the rollout of superfast broadband in communities across the UK. BT is leading the telecoms industry in the drive to make the UK a frontrunner in superfast fibre broadband (SFB). The company’s Subsidiary, BT Openreach is investing heavily to support the Government’s target of 90% coverage of superfast broadband and universal access to at least 2Mbps broadband by 2015. £2.5bn of investment has already been announced and will enable two-thirds of UK premises across more than 1,000 exchange areas to benefit from superfast fibre broadband by 2014. Our analysis looks at the effects this will have across four diverse case study areas; Sunderland, Caerphilly, the rural counties of Norfolk an Suffolk and across the entirety of Greater London where BT plans to have rolled-out superfast broadband to nearly all locations in the near future.

Key findings from this analysis are that over the next 15 years the current plans could lead to the creation of:

Almost £300 million, £150 million and £1.3 billion in GVA for the economies of Sunderland, Caerphilly and Norfolk & Suffolk respectively
Around 2,000 new business starts across these three areas
£19.8 billion GVA and 6,600 new businesses across London

Our work for BT adds to our growing portfolio of corporate economic impact assessments, including work for AstraZeneca and United Utilities. If you would like to discuss this work further, please contact Stephen Nicol, Managing Director of Regeneris Consulting on 0161 234 9910 or email on s.nicol@regeneris.co.uk. To discuss our broadband work please contact Simon Hooton, Director at Regeneris on 0161 234 9910.

Opportunities for Low Carbon Economic Growth in Kent

2012-04-20T11:22:31+00:00

The Climate Change Act legally commits the UK to reduce its CO2 emissions by 80% on 1990 levels by 2050 and by 30% by 2020. Whilst this transition to a low carbon economy brings challenges, it also generates significant business opportunities. Kent County Council has commissioned Regeneris to examine the nature and scale of these opportunities for Kent. The research will look at how well Kent is currently placed in practice to take advantage of the range of opportunities, how the low carbon economy is likely to develop in coming years and the impact climate change legislation may have on the economy.

This important commission reflects Regeneris Consulting’s expertise in using economic analysis to map the low carbon economy and its component parts. We have developed a so called Mini Stern economic model, which has been used successfully in other locations (including Liverpool City Region and Cheshire and Warrington) to assess the impact of climate change policy and legislation on these local and regional economies. The model brings together national and local data on greenhouse gas emissions, energy costs, and sectoral composition, to analyse the impact of climate change legislation on different sectors and locations. The Kent study will make use of these techniques in helping the County Council and its partners to develop a comprehensive set of actions to grow the low carbon economy.

Besides our strong track record in low carbon economics, we also work closely with energy developers in making the case for new generating and storage capacity. We are currently advising the developers of some of the UK’s largest on and offshore wind farm developments, as well as gas storage and energy from waste schemes. For more information on this project or our on wider low carbon and energy expertise please contact Chris Paddock on 0207 608 7200 or Neil Evans on 0161 234 9910.

Economic Analysis Helps Get Planning Applications Over the Line

2012-04-17T11:23:20+00:00

Regeneris currently have over 30 major schemes which we are supporting, either at planning application stage, public enquiry or in the form of some pre-application promotion. In a number of cases we are assembling the economic or market need case. In others we are quantifying the full range of direct and indirect economic benefits using our local economic models. On change-of-use schemes we are also evidencing an absence of demand for historic allocations. This evidence is increasingly important to tipping the balance in terms of the achievement of consent.

Some of our recent successes, working alongside our planning and communications partners, have included:

Approval for Persimmon on a residential scheme at Market Harborough Business Park. Our evidence showed how release for residential purposes would not harm local economic performance and deliver benefits in its own right.
Approval at Walton on the Naze for a new Tesco anchored scheme. We provided a full quantification of the socio-economic benefits for the town and provided EIA inputs.
Approval for Edge Hill University's £55 million plans to develop a Sports and Accommodation Complex. Regeneris completed the Socio-economic Case for the planning application.
Approval at Inquiry for Gladman in Clitheroe, Lancashire for a 270 unit residential scheme. Here we provided evidence on housing demand and demonstrated the positive benefits in terms of economic performance using our in-house economic model.
Approval for Taylor Wimpey for two residential schemes in Crewe (650 units) and Preston (450 units). Again we used our in-house economic model to demonstrate how the schemes could increase spending in the local economy and contribute to town centre regeneration.
Approval for Peel Holdings at Liverpool Waters, a £5 billion mixed use redevelopment scheme. We developed the economic case for the development, producing a socio-economic impact assessment of the scheme and also providing a social and community infrastructure plan to support the development.

We support schemes in the energy, infrastructure, residential, retail, leisure and commercial sectors. For further information contact Darren Wisher in Manchester or Margaret Collins in London in the first instance.

Supporting the Development of Fibre Broadband in the UK

2012-04-16T11:22:57+00:00

The Government is investing £630 million to help the UK secure the best superfast broadband in Europe. By 2015 all communities and businesses are expected to have access to a basic 2Mbps connection while at least 90% should have access to superfast fibre broadband speeds of 24Mbps. Most of the investment is being channelled into the more remote areas of the UK but additional funding was ear-marked for cities and larger towns in the last Budget. These can however only be staging posts on the way to wider-spread faster broadband if the UK is to compete against emerging economies.

Regeneris has supported many of the partnerships in preparing their plans and longer term strategies. Our team has developed a strong understanding of the role for fibre broadband in economic development and growth. Regeneris’s combined knowledge of fibre broadband and economics means we can help with background analysis, case making, bid development, business planning and developing delivery structures. Good quality superfast broadband is fast becoming a minimum requirement for businesses rather than a differentiator between potential locations. Our research highlights the crucial role that super and ultra-fast broadband can play in driving the expansion of high value knowledge industries. Important growth sectors such as finance, advanced manufacturing and digital and creative businesses will be among the best placed to exploit opportunities for increased innovation, data sharing, supply chain management and global market access. Cloud computing alone can increase productivity, facilitate more flexible employment practices and hugely reduce business start up costs. Superfast broadband can play a significant role in restructuring and diversifying rural and urban economies by creating new opportunities for employment and enterprise for local people.

Recent work undertaken by the team has included an assessment of the economic impact of BT’s rollout of superfast broadband across the UK, an in-depth study of the likely wider reaching effects of fibre broadband in Cheshire and Warrington, helping the Cumbria BDUK pilot secure ERDF co-investment, an ex-ante evaluation of the Digital Region programme in South Yorkshire, supporting bids in Birmingham, Bradford and Leeds to secure funds through the Super Connected Cities Programme and assisting West Yorkshire, South Humber, Merseyside and Tees Valley to prepare investment plans.

We have built up a great deal of insight into the must get right issues. We are keen to share our ideas and look at opportunities to support other partnerships. If you would like to find out more, please do get in touch. In the meantime, we have provided a few quick pointers:

Quick Tips: Making The Case For Investment

a) Business Planning Must Be Detailed And Relevant

Successful plans are based on a thorough assessment of the costs and benefits and draw upon expert knowledge of the technical matters and the telecoms market. Your plans must be integrated into wider local and national economic development strategies to ensure the proposed investment is tailored to local economic needs and designed to create the widest reaching impact.

b) Invest Time Analysing Intelligence

Successful projects must draw on advanced mapping and modelling techniques to construct a picture of likely supply and demand and to plot the footprint of a planned scheme.

c) Plan Early For Co-investment

Local partners must bring forward additional investment to complement BDUK and private resources. This often this requires looking at ERDF which can take time and requires a strong understanding of the regulations and guidelines.

d) Boost Support By Focussing on Impact

The economic, social and environmental benefits of fibre broadband need to be quantified and used to enthuse partners. This requires a strong understanding of evidence on impact and a rigorous approach to economic modelling.

e) Case Making

A convincing case must be based on comparing options and assessing different scenarios. The preferred scheme must have a clear rationale, offer value for money and make a clear contribution to local strategic objectives.

Click here for more information on the range of broadband services provided by Regeneris and Mott Macdonald. For more information on any of our broadband related work, contact Simon Hooton (s.hooton@regeneris.co.uk) on 0161 234 9910.

BT London Impact Study Launched

2012-03-30T06:02:12+00:00

BT commissioned Regeneris to carry out a major study to examine the firms’ economic impact and today sees the launch of the findings for London.

The key highlights for London alone are:

BT is responsible for the employment of more than 14,000 people (including contractors), with a total income of £628 million across London;
BT’s spend with suppliers supports a further 32,700 full time equivalents (FTEs)
The firm’s total GVA impact is £3.8 billion when direct, indirect and induced impacts are taken into account

For the UK as a whole, BT’s Gross Value Added contribution (GVA) contribution is assessed at more than £17 billion. It supports 274,000 jobs and last year spent £7.6 billion with UK-based suppliers.

Stephen Nicol, managing director Regeneris Consulting, said “BT makes a substantial contribution to the global city that is London. Its direct contribution is particularly large and when the supply chain and other effects are added in the firm accounts for £1 in every £70 generated by the London economy. Clearly, its continued investment in superfast broadband is also proving critical to the competiveness of the UK’s largest economy”.

Our report also assesses the wider economic impact of BT’s investment in the rollout of superfast broadband in communities across the UK. BT is leading the telecoms industry in the drive to make the UK a frontrunner in superfast fibre broadband (SFB). £2.5bn of investment has already been announced and will enable two-thirds of UK premises across more than 1,000 exchange areas to benefit from superfast fibre broadband by 2014.

Our analysis looks at the effects this will have across four diverse case study areas including Greater London. Key findings show:

Investment in superfast broadband announced for London to date could create almost £20 billion in GVA over the next 15 years
For every £1 a business invests in superfast broadband this will create £10 in additional GVA for the UK economy

For further information see the following website: www.btsocialstudy.co.uk

Regeneris Helps Three Cities Get Ultra-Fast Broadband

2012-03-23T06:48:55+00:00

Regeneris is really pleased to announce that our clients in Birmingham, Leeds and Bradford this week secured £24M of money from George Osbourne’s budget. These cities can now start putting in place the plans Regeneris helped develop with them to provide ultrafast broadband with speeds of at least 100mb/sec and widely available mobile wireless access across the city-centres.

With our partners Mott MacDonald, we undertook mapping analysis to understand priorities, cost modelling to understand affordability, impact assessment to make the economic case for investment and helped draft funding proposals to secure resources. These initiatives will complement the wider BDUK programme where we have also been busy and together can be expected to generate significant impacts on the local economy creating wealth and jobs.

We have recently produced a short brochure setting out our range of work in this area and flagging up the next steps partnership now need to start thinking about. Please contact Simon Hooton for more information on our experience and services.

Regeneris Assists Four BDUK Partnerships Submit Plans

2012-03-15T11:42:04+00:00

The broadband team at Regeneris Consulting has been busy through January and February helping BDUK partnerships develop their plans for superfast broadband. Working closely with our partners at Mott MacDonald, our team has been undertaking financial-modelling, public sector assets mapping, supplier mapping and socio-economic analysis to inform local Delivery Plans and priorities. We have helped the partnerships in South Humber, Tees Valley, West Yorkshire and Merseyside meet the DCMS deadline at the end of February. The DCMS team is now reviewing the bids as on-going refinements are being made and plans for co-investment among local authorities continue, often involving regional ERDF teams.

The Regeneris team is continuing to advise to these partnerships and others (Cumbria, Devon & Somerset and Cheshire & Warrington) to accelerate their plans towards state aid approval and procurement. We are assisting with:
• further cost modelling to better understand the affordability of different plans
• developing demand stimulation and business support schemes
• and, preparing ERDF applications to draw down eligible co-investment with the help of CLG.

To summarise the work we have done and help partnerships understand the next steps in the process, we have produced a short brochure. If you would like a copy, you can download it here or please contact Simon Hooton 0794 0811098

Approval for Liverpool Waters Plans

2012-03-09T11:53:45+00:00

The outline planning application for the high profile £5.5 billion Liverpool Waters development has been unanimously approved by Liverpool City Council’s planning committee. Regeneris provided a range of socio-economic inputs to support to the design and planning teams over the course of the last four years.

Liverpool Waters is a major mixed use redevelopment scheme proposed for the former dock areas to the north of Liverpool City Centre. Developed by Peel Holdings, the scheme features around 9,000 apartments, around 300,000 m2 of office accommodation, hotels, bars and restaurants, and a cruise terminal. It features two clusters of tall buildings, one near the city centre and a second further north.

Regeneris Consulting was retained by Peel Holdings as economic consultants to develop the economic case for the development, to prepare the socio-economic impact assessment of the scheme, and the social and community infrastructure plan to support the development. This involved a detailed assessment of the local, sub-regional and regional socio economic contexts against which Peel's proposals for Liverpool Waters were to be developed. Making extensive and innovative use of a wide-range of datasets and GIS techniques, we identified the key economic, social and regeneration challenges for the area and how the Liverpool Waters scheme could help to address these challenges. Our work identified that the scheme could accommodate around 14,600 full time equivalent jobs with £410m in employment income and GVA of £630m.

Ian Pollitt, Development Investment Surveyor, Peel Holdings said: “The Liverpool Waters proposals are unique and have the potential to change the future of the city. The development proposed is on an unprecedented scale almost beyond living experience which if delivered would transform the city’s waterfront, creating a new international business destination, expand the city’s economy and regenerate north Liverpool”.

Neil Evans, the Regeneris Director who managed the socio-economics our inputs, said “the Scheme would play a major role in helping to drive economic growth in Liverpool and Merseyside by attracting new investors. The scheme will not only provide a competitive location of national and international significance, it will also help to attract and retain skilled workers to inner Liverpool, in turn strengthening its appeal to investors”.

For more information on our work and to discuss how we can help you make the case for your project, please contact Neil Evans (n.evans@regeneris.co.uk) on 0161 234 9910.

Walton Superstore Plans Approved

2012-03-08T11:44:43+00:00

Tendring District Council have confirmed their resolution to approve a new Tesco superstore in Walton on the Naze. Regeneris provided economic inputs to support the ultimately successful planning application.

The Walton on the Naze Regeneration Framework sets out a strategy and spatial masterplan for the regeneration of Walton on the Naze. The framework identifies the Martello Caravan Park site on the edge of the town centre as one of eight key opportunity areas locally and states that the site offers the potential for the development of a food store which could serve the convenience retail needs of the town in a location which would link well with the town centre. In this context, Tesco proposed the development of a new superstore and petrol filling station on the site.

Regeneris Consulting was appointed to conduct a socio‐economic assessment of the proposals. Our work identified the key economic, social and regeneration challenges facing the area and assessed how the proposed scheme could help to address these. The report concluded that the scheme could play an important role contributing towards the overall regeneration objectives for Walton, in particular helping the town to build a stronger year round economy and strengthening the town centre through contributing to linked trips.

The Regeneris socio-economic impact assessment played an integral role in the EIA for the development and the ultimately successful planning application.

For more information on our work and to discuss how we can help you make the case for your project, please contact Margaret Collins (m.collins@regeneris.co.uk) on 0207 608 7200.