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.