Projects

Brighton & Hove City council sought to develop a new Economic Strategy to guide their activity between 2024-2027.

It was important for Brighton & Hove City Council that the Economic Strategy was shaped in partnership with businesses and organisations across the city, who will help deliver any actions. They were also keen that in process of developing the strategy itself new relationships were established.

PRD took a collaborative approach which sought input from stakeholders from the start of the process. This involved a series of themed workshops with council officers, civil society organisations and businesses. Our conversations were broader than what might be included in a traditional economic strategy, for example bringing in representatives from public health, culture and circular economy, recognising the links between these and the economy of the city.

Alongside this, we developed a short evidence base shaped around how Brighton & Hove’s economy could be more fair, green and productive. This situated Brighton & Hove’s economy within wider national economic challenges and opportunities.

Our outputs are still being developed, but include a short visual evidence base and a strategy report.

PRD worked with three Southwark- & Lambeth-based Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) – Better Bankside, Team London Bridge, and WeAreWaterloo – to identify opportunities for them to help their levy-paying member businesses meet their employment needs. The BIDs jointly established EmploySE1 in 2011 as a localised recruitment service for their members, but following a hiatus since 2021, wanted to redevelop it in a format that offers a more updated service provision.

We undertook a programme of desk-based research and engagement to develop a set of recommendations for the BIDs to take forward. The service has always had a local focus, and so we analysed secondary data to provide a snapshot of the local socio-economic context. This was followed by a series of engagement activities such as a survey and focus groups to understand member businesses’ current challenges and needs around recruitment, training and development, and retention, as well as one-to-one conversations with external stakeholders to learn from their experience and explore potential for partnerships in the area. This insight informed the development of recommendations for what the new EmploySE1 service might look like, and the identification of opportunities for the BIDs to pursue. After testing these ideas with the BIDs, we presented our findings and recommendations in a report.

The outcomes of this work will inform future business planning and budget allocation within the BIDs, with the aim of remaining agile and continuously evolving to meet business needs.

Huntingdonshire Futures is a collaborative strategy which sets out a shared vision for the future of Huntingdonshire in 2050 and a clear way forward to achieve it. ​Huntingdonshire District Council commissioned PRD to deliver a wide reaching and deliberative programme of community engagement to ensure that local people’s ideas and perspectives informed the strategy.  ​

We had more than 800 conversations about the future with local people from across the District ranging from eight to 94 years old. We used a variety of approaches, from pop-up exhibitions in high footfall areas to focus groups and classroom sessions in schools. ​

To ensure diversity of voices we collaborated with community organisations, such as food banks, older people’s groups, youth organisations, schools, and colleges. This approach meant local people were able to shape the priorities and actions for the future.

Huntingdonshire Futures can be read here (PDF).

UN_BIASED was an exciting and innovative research and engagement project looking to produce actionable recommendations to move towards a truly inclusive economy, with a focus on women’s employment and opportunities. Central District Alliance Business Improvement District, a Central London BID with more than 160,000 employees and 17,000 businesses, including multi-national organisations, in partnership with the London Communication Agency (LCA), commissioned PRD and our collaborators to deliver a programme of desktop research and engagement to shape this project.  ​

Fundamental to the success of UN_BIASED was a foundation in robust quantitative and qualitative research that can enable an understanding of the issues, challenges, and barriers to change. This sits alongside insights from local employees and employers, and learning from best practice around the world, to identify realistic actions that will deliver an inclusive economy. ​

Our work included taking over a local coffee shop for a drop in a chat session, pop up engagement at careers fairs, focus groups, stakeholder interviews and surveys. We also hosted a co-design workshop to create recommendations for the future. Our processes ensured the voices of people working in Central London played a role in designing recommendations for change.

More information about the project is available on the UN_BIASED website and the report can be downloaded here.