Delivering a mid-term review of the Invest Bristol and Bath service for the West of England Combined Authority

We were appointed to deliver an independent mid-term review of the Invest Bristol and Bath service for the West of England Combined Authority to assure continued effectiveness and value for money.

What was the brief?

The West of England Combined Authority required specialist inward investment consultancy support with significant stakeholder engagement expertise to carry out this assignment. The client needed a research approach combining policy and strategy analysis, documentary reviews, performance analysis, client workshops, interviews and surveys with service users, delivery partners and stakeholders, benchmarking analysis, and a set of robust evidence-based conclusions and recommendations. The timeline for delivery of the draft interim report was just 12 weeks, which required the Gateley Global team to work at pace to meet this challenging client deadline.

How did we help?

Our team included Rebecca Bekkenutte, Chief Operating Officer, Greg Rogers, Management Consultant, and Ollie Downton, Analyst, with support from the wider Gateley Global team.

We delivered the following stakeholder engagement and research outputs:

1. Two client scoping interviews, two client workshops and six consultation surveys.
2. 24 interviews with service users, delivery partners and stakeholders including CEOs and senior officers of the four unitary authorities within the region along with the West of England Mayor and Bristol Mayor.
3. A draft interim report leading to a final report following client and delivery partner feedback containing 50+ operational and strategic recommendations for improving the service during and after the current funding cycle.

How did this benefit the client?

The mid-term review concluded that the service should continue to be delivered via a regional model under a post-2025 inward investment plan with greater stakeholder involvement based on the following research findings: economies of scale, positive client and stakeholder feedback, high performance results and benchmarking research.

The Gateley Global team’s understanding of the operational and strategic issues relating to the service, regular client reporting updates, and sensitive approach to stakeholder engagement provided the client with the reassurance needed that this review could be conducted to a high standard and delivered on time. The client appreciated the team’s professional, rigorous and independent scrutiny-based approach, efficient analysis of considerable volumes of data, and concise communication of the key conclusions and recommendations in the Executive Summary.

The client is now developing short-term and long-term plans based on our conclusions and recommendations to guide the future development of the service.