MARKET RESEARCH SERVICES

The summary below sets out examples of the recent market research track record of ibp Strategy and Research (since January 2003).

Economic Development and Evaluation

The summary below sets out examples of the recent market research track record of ibp Strategy and Research (since January 2003).

• The recruitment of new members to a People's Panel on behalf of a Social Inclusion Partnership, and a subsequent postal survey of Panel members.
• An in-street survey, focus groups and individual depth interviews with people in ethnic minority communities, assessing the barriers to their accessing Council services.
• Focus groups with community representatives on the subject of Roads Maintenance, as an input to the deliberations of a Council's Scrutiny Committee.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys

• Tenant and owners survey for a major Housing Association in Glasgow, involving 1,200 face-to-face interviews in respondents’ homes.
• Tenants survey for a Housing Co-operative in the Elgin area (150 interviews).
• Monthly visitor counts and exit surveys at the Loch Lomond Shores development in Balloch.

Our team has experience of delivering survey work (including telephone, household and postal surveys) throughout Scotland. Project reports are set out in clear graphical form, but detailed data tables also allow you to analyse results in detail, according to agreed criteria.

BUSINESS CONSULTATIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The summary below outlines key elements of the track record of the Directors and staff of ibp with regard to Economic Development and Business Consultation.

Business Consultations

Our team has extensive experience of engaging the business community in the assessment and development of service provision in the areas of economic and business development. Some recent examples include:

• A series of 10 company workshops, online survey and programme of 1,000 company interviews as part of a joint LEC/council review of business services, anticipating the challenges emerging from the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee.
• Subsequent follow up to this work, to validate the Local Economic Forum's Action Plan. This included company and partner workshops, allied to telephone surveys, and the document was appended to the published Action Plan.
• For another Local Economic Forum, a series of eight Company Workshops, and 500 interviews, which was again used to help develop the Forum's Action Plan, and which was appended to the published plan.
• For the DTI, a comprehensive review of export propensity in the oil and gas industry, involving 100 face to face interviews, 12 company workshops and over 1,000 telephone interviews. The results were used to inform a number of programme delivery and communication issues, and the formal report was used as part of the formal launch of British Trade International.
• For a local authority, a comprehensive mapping of the business base, and survey of economic confidence across sectors.

Programme Development

Amongst the specific business development programmes and initiatives to which we have contributed are the following:

• The Passport initiative of Trade Partners UK. This is now the standard approach to servicing the needs of new exporters in England and Wales. Our team played a major role in the initial research, and subsequent development, of the Passport concept.
• The Food Product Development Programme of Scottish Food and Drink. ibp's Director played the lead role in the initial design of this programme, and took the lead in delivering several waves of it. The programme has led to many successful new product launches and, with EU support, was extended throughout Ireland, Italy and Spain.

Evaluations

Our team has conducted several evaluations in areas where we have a particular expertise:

• Account management within the business development functions of economic development agencies.
• Evaluations of product development initiatives.
• Evaluation of exporting and trade development programmes, including the interim and final evaluations of the "Passport" initiative on behalf of the DTI.

In some cases, we will enter into partnerships with other consultants with complementary skills, to deliver evaluation projects. In such circumstances, our team provides the research expertise to complement the depth of subject knowledge, which our partners bring.

Training and Development for Economic Development Agencies

We are associated with ibp (Scotland), who are leaders in developing and accrediting programmes of training support for business advisers. By autumn 2003, 600 business advisers in Scotland will have passed through the Premier Adviser programme which leads to a Diploma in Business Advice and Counselling. The organisation has won a number of industry accolades, including two National Training Awards, one in partnership with Scottish Enterprise for the Junior Executive Development Initiative (JEDI) programme.

HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS AND OTHER SOCIAL LANDLORDS

The summary below outlines the track record of the Directors and staff of ibp with regard to work on behalf of Housing Associations and other social landlords.

Customer Satisfaction And Income Surveys

Our team has experience of delivering survey work (including household and postal surveys) throughout Scotland. The model Customer Attitude Survey, which was published jointly by the SFHA and Scottish Homes is a useful starting point for benchmarking purposes. However, much has changed over this period, including a greater emphasis on wider role activities, so the questionnaire has to be further developed to meet your specific needs. As a matter of course we provide a robust affordability analysis, consistent with the latest guidance.

Our project reports are set out in clear graphical form, but detailed data tables also allow you to analyse results on a street by street basis.

Focus Groups

Housing Associations and Co-operatives often seek the greater depth of understanding, which can be afforded by focus groups. We recruit at random, to avoid "the usual suspects" and use a variety of participative techniques to determine people's underlying attitudes and aspirations.

Survey of Professional Stakeholders

Housing Associations are very much part of a partnership landscape, and need to work with others to achieve their objectives. Our team has surveyed various types of professional stakeholder including Communities Scotland, private sector funders, Local Authorities, MPs, MSPs and so on.

Wider Role

Our team has a range of consulting and research skills, which can help Housing Associations and Co-operatives pursue a wider role. Typical projects have included:

• Feasibility studies for social economy organisations in areas such as personal care, financial services, training and community facilities.
• Development of community safety strategies.
• Consultation with local communities on local development plans.
• Consultation on wider issues of relevance, such as: children's play areas, child-care, lifelong learning, financial inclusion and access to sports and leisure facilities.

LOCAL AUTHORITIES

The summary below outlines key elements of the track record of the Directors and staff of ibp with regard to Local Authorities, both at ibp and their previous employers.

Community Consultation

Our team has an excellent track record in delivering residents surveys on behalf of Local Authorities of all sizes within Scotland. Such surveys typically address a range of cross-cutting issues such as community safety, quality of life and sense of community, as well as providing measures of satisfaction with Council performance.

Our experience in this area ensures that survey results are placed in an appropriate context, using appropriate benchmarks such as COSLA data, results from other research and the Scottish Household Survey, where appropriate.

Often, exploratory research techniques, such as focus groups, can be used to ensure that citizens are able to identify the key issues for them, and to provide a depth of insight to complement quantitative survey work.

Employee Consultation

An understanding of the attitudes and motivations of employees, and involving them in improvement activity, is important to ensure that service improvements are deliverable and sustainable. Employees can often highlight the barriers which have to be overcome, whilst also identifying opportunities for improvement.

Access to Council Services

Technological change, a drive to e-government, a focus on social inclusion and ever increasing customer expectations are driving changes to the ways in which councils communicate with service users and enable access to council services.

Our team has undertaken several assignments relating to issues such as:

• E-government
• Access to services for excluded groups
• Models of customer service delivery
• Communications strategies

Citizen's Panels

Citizens' panels are one of the key ways of encouraging community involvement. They can be a highly cost-effective research method, particularly where they are used as a focus for joint effort amongst various partners, for example in the context of Community Planning Partnerships.

Our consultants have recruited a number of such Panels, and have subsequently administered Panel surveys. We have also been involved in "refreshing" Panels when response rates have declined. Our approach is to design easy to use questionnaires, which use plain language, and which are relevant to people's concerns.

Business Consultation and Economic Development

We are associated with ibp (Scotland), who are leaders in developing and accrediting programmes of training support for business advisers. By autumn 2003, 600 business advisers in Scotland will have passed through the Premier Adviser programme, which leads to a Diploma in Business Advice and Counselling. The organisation has won a number of industry accolades, including two National Training Awards.

Added to this, our consultancy team has hands-on experience as economic development practitioners, and has undertaken several major business consultation exercises for Local Authorities and their partners. Examples include:

• Reviews of business services on behalf of Local Economic Forums.
• Surveys of business confidence.
• Consultation on the role of business in the inclusion process.

Other Research Projects

Councils are diverse organisations, and this diversity is reflected in the range of projects our team have delivered for Councils in Scotland. Some examples include:

• Customer consultations as part of Best Value reviews
• Consultations on Structure Plans and Local plans
• Feasibility studies for new initiatives, such as arts venues, leisure facilities and other civic amenities.
• Specific service consultations (e.g. children's play areas, housing services, roads maintenance).

SOCIAL INCLUSION PARTNERSHIPS AND OTHER REGENERATION AGENCIES

The summary below outlines the track record of the Directors and staff of ibp with regard to work on behalf of Social Inclusion Partnerships and other regeneration agencies.

People's Panels and Other Types of Consultation

Community consultation is an important factor in the regeneration process. People's Panels are one of the key ways of encouraging community involvement. Our consultants have recruited a number of such Panels, and have subsequently administered Panel surveys. We have also been involved in "refreshing" Panels when response rates have declined. Our approach is to design easy to use questionnaires, which use plain language, and which are relevant to people's concerns.

As well as Panels, we offer the full range of research methods: focus groups, in-street surveys, household surveys, online research and so on.

Typical Research Projects

The breadth of issues, which the inclusion process needs to address, is reflected in the range of projects, which our consultancy and research team have delivered:

• Childcare
• Lifelong Learning
• Financial Inclusion
• Arts and leisure provision
• Feasibility studies and business plans for new social economy ventures.

Our team has considerable experience of engaging individuals and communities in addressing their own vision for their area. Often, this relates to physical developments, but also brings in wider issues such as community safety, economic development and transport.

We have used approaches such as: community conferences, citizens' juries and focus groups to help people take a more considered view of their aspirations for the future.

Evaluations

Continuous improvement requires constant project monitoring and evaluation. We combine strategic consultancy skills with our in-house research team, to offer cost effective monitoring and evaluation of projects, and are also involved in overall SIP evaluations.

MARKET RESEARCH AND STRATEGIC CONSULTANCY FOR THE FOOD SECTOR

The examples below illustrate the range of projects within the food industry, which have been delivered by our consultancy team, both at ibp and our previous employers:

• Design and implementation of the national Scottish Food and Drink Product Development Programme. This was a programme of six workshops, with associated consultancy support, whose purpose was to help companies improve the success rate of new product launches, through a systematic approach. External evaluations have pointed to the programme's success, and it has been rolled out to a number of other European countries, with support from the EU.
• We have delivered customer research programmes for a wide range of businesses across the food industry, involving both quantitative and qualitative research. Examples of sectors covered include:
• Pizza
• Seafood
• Ethnic Snacks
• Yoghurt
• Bakery Products
• Delicatessens
• Restaurants
• We retain a team of consumers who act as a focus group, testing out new product and packaging ideas.
• We have undertaken sector reviews and mapping exercises of the food industry in various geographical areas, on behalf of economic development agencies.
• A variety of feasibility studies into new ventures in the food industry. Some examples include:
• A Highland Beef marketing co-operative.
• Salmon caviar processing
• Biscuit manufacturing
• A web site marketing Scottish gourmet produce
• Reprocessing of shellfish waste
• Frequently, such studies have led on to the development of business plans, a service which we also provide to established SMEs.
• In addition, we have applied our evaluation skills to a number of economic development projects which are aimed at the food industry.

ibp's core skills are in integrating the disciplines of market research and business strategy, in a way which delivers real practical benefits to our clients.

TRADE DEVELOPMENT

The summary below outlines the track record of the Directors and staff of ibp with regard to trade development activity.

Research Studies

Our strategic research skills are complemented by an in-house market research function, which provides the full range of research techniques, including qualitative methods such as Company Focus groups, and quantitative methods such as telephone and online research. Typical projects to which these skills have been applied include:

• Evaluation of the Trade Partners UK "Passport" initiative, as well as a range of other internationalisation schemes.
• The DTI's "Export Culture Study" which was an investigation into the motivations and barriers to export in the UK oil and gas industry.
• A New Customer Acquisition review on behalf of Trade Partners UK in the South West region.
• Customer surveys on behalf of a number of trade associations operating in the international arena.

Programme Development

Our consultants are experienced practitioners in the field of economic development, and are skilled in researching the needs of businesses. We marry a sound understanding of the principles of economic development, to an appreciation of the practicalities of providing support to SMEs.

We have used these skills to assist in the development of initiatives such as "Passport" and the Scottish Enterprise "Global Advantage" graduate placement scheme.

Bespoke Support To SMEs

Our consultants' particular strengths are in the food and drink sector, where we have helped many companies to develop and implement export plans.

We also have hands-on experience of the increasingly important area of internationalisation of services.

Development of Business and Trade Advisers

Our parent company, Interactive Business Partnership are leaders in developing and accrediting programmes of training support for business advisers. By Autumn 2003, 600 business advisers in Scotland will have passed through the Premier Adviser programme which leads to a Diploma in Business Advice and Counselling. The organisation has won a number of industry accolades, including two National Training Awards.

A new development, Premier Adviser International, has now been launched for business advisers specialising in international trade.

An Ethical Approach

ibp's corporate values are based around respect for our customers, and for each other. We actively seek opportunities to work with organisations, which are involved in improving the lives of individuals and communities, and to source goods and services from such organisations, wherever possible.