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Creative Beacons Network Meeting – 21 January 2009Farraday Wharf, Advantage West MidlandsAttendeesAndy Lovatt, The White RoomPhil Birchenall, The White RoomBernie Emery, The White RoomEmily Lyons, The White RoomLara Ratnaraja, Business Link WM (Chair)Chris Garcia, South West RDADavid Furmage, Advantage West MidlandsRebecca Binns, South West RDA Jessica Vallentine, BL SWStuart McFarlane, Yorkshire ForwardIain Bennett, NWDASue Warburton, Business Link North WestFrances Hinton, EEDAAdrian Brazier, BERRAnna Smart, SEEDAAlistair Findlay, DCMSApologiesMark Adamson – One North EastAndy Brown – Business Link North EastHeidi Brailsford – Business Link East MidlandsRichard Lukey – Business Link YorkshireAlan Searle – SEEDAMax Adam – Business Link KentRob Ball – EMDResearch Update: Progress & ChallengesData gathering has become more of a challenge lately which ishampering progress. TWR need more data from most people if thework is to be completed on time.So far all scoping studies have been completed including latecomersEast of England. TWR will be returning to East of England and theSouth East for more in depth analysis.More guidance is needed from the South East as they have 6Business Links so a more complicated set up. However, thecontract will be changing in April. They do not have a definition of 
 
the CI sector so mapping is pointless at the moment.East Midlands do not have best practice at the moment and CI isdissolved as a sector. They don’t want to have the detailed researchdone but do want to be part of dissemination. There is however avery good CI network, but not going to spend a huge resource there. The Customer Survey was sent out to all the Business Links andthey are sending it to their client base. This is to validate TWRconclusions about what is good about the BL service. So far wehave received a good feedback to date, this helps TWR gather bestpractice.Gathering the quantitative data has been like “pulling teeth”. Todate, the South West is the only region to give full managementinformation. This has been a challenge. TWR should have done thefull interactive mapping but this has not been done yet due to thehold up with gathering this information.Case Studies – also had partial response.What is the lack of response due to?Issue of confidentiality, internal battles, changes of commandproblems.“Clients surveyed to death”Current economic climate doesn’t help. TWR were hoping to get all quantitative data in December but ithasn’t happened. Wanted to build a quantitative profile to look atlevel of impact of services. The longer the things go on the harderthat will be to deliver because of lack of info coming forward andregions are using different definitions. Everybody is using adifferent definition. Not the DCMS definition. TWR can use that data regionally but it won’t be comparable dataacross regions. TWR wanted to align the evaluation framework with BERR logicmodels.AL asked the group if it was a good use of TWR time and resourcesto take partial and inconsistent data about CI to build an evaluationto then feedback to back fit into BERR? Or was it better toconcentrate efforts to do a qualitative analysis in the regions andwait for BSSP evaluation framework to be completed which BLs aregoing to be deploying anyway?IB responded “Yes and” to utilising quantitative data.Data is comparable to other data in the region and there is a worry
 
of returning to fragmentation if some quantitative analysis isn’tcarried out.AL said data was similar but different ie. some have better GVAfigures than others. Any evaluation framework has to involve GVA.Looking for a method to bring qualitative and quantitative datatogether but has to align with BERR’s logic model. This is a task and finish group that has to be finished by April butnot sure if BSSP model will be finished then.Who is going to taking it forward? MI people at BLs.Who is interested? RDAs.CG said the point of quantitative data is it will help to evaluate goodand best practice so we want a methodological framework and adevelopment path that says how we make judgements eg. Is it Yorkshire we talk to or East of England so some of that frameworkwill relate to quantitative data within a region, some of it maybequasi – quantitative and qualitative and although it doesn’t join upwe can take a view, or get a feel – need a framework methodologythat isn’t science but more judgemental.We can draw conclusions that can be presented to Managementteams. When development processes continue we have gotsomething we can signpost to, need a basis we can all see and livewith.If there is something that is quantitative that is backing thatstatement. We make a judgement eg. Region X excellent marketingcampaign with the quantitative data that backs it up with returns of a marketing campaign.IB said this is a roadmap, this is how the management teamscontinue to focus and how these intermediate outcomes will bereflected in the framework when it is available.CG used the Investors in People example – they have amethodological framework which is entirely qualitative. Aggregatequalitative data to give it statistical significance.Accepted that no right or wrong answers but that it was a journey. Therefore it should be a Continuous Improvement model to provideplanning tools for BLs going forward.Customer Survey – responses been really good and constructiveIn SW the survey went out with newsletter – 20,000 companies, 10%CIs. – 5000 CIs.Case Studies – TWR will be going into companies and filming,
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