We have almost twenty years of experience as an economic development consultancy working both in the UK and abroad, particularly in Eastern Europe. We've found out the hard way what works and what doesn't and can help you choose from a selection of different options to solve the same problem.
We have a wide variety of skills - we need them to do the wide range of different projects we have. But our skills fall particularly into the following categories:
- Strategy Development and Facilitation – developing coherent strategies particularly for groups of heterogeneous stakeholders. This includes many assignments with the Boards (and similar bodies) of Voluntary and Community Sector bodies.
- Assistance to the Public Sector – assisting senior public sector managers in making strategic decisions in negotiations and in project development. Considerable work in the new member states of the EU, particularly related to assisting senior officials in planning future strategy and actions.
- Development of Project Ideas – turning vague ideas into clear propositions, particularly for the public sector where there is a need for development of consensus between a large number of people. These have included projects for regeneration and economic development of all sizes, from very local plans to ones requiring EC approval.
- Evaluation – synthesising the lessons of the past and developing coherent recommendations where there is need for consultation with a large number of different actors. Evaluation of complex projects including synthesising semi-structured interviews with a variety of stakeholders, and combining qualitative and quantitative data.
- Use of Open Source and Information Technology – making best use of IT particularly by creative solutions with limited budgets. High degree of computer-literacy including Open Source desktop applications (Linux, OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird) and web development (MySQL, PHP, Joomla). Responsible for the creation and maintenance of a number of simple websites (including this one).