Project overview

Commissioning in a complex stakeholder environment

Capabilities demonstrated: Stakeholder engagement, proposition development, business analysis

Client: Sheffield City Council

Date: April 2022 - December 2022

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The job to be done

Our partners needed to commission five cross-cutting pieces of research to inform the outputs of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District program:

1. An independent review of South Yorkshire’s innovation capabilities to identify our competitive strengths, and the investments in businesses, skills and training required to capitalise on current and future market opportunities.

2. A business support, skills and training plan focussed on enabling people and businesses to take advantage of the growing opportunities in the innovation-led sectors of advanced heath & wellbeing and advanced manufacturing.

3. A spatial vision and strategy describing a sustainable and connected, innovation district that better connects our four innovation campuses to each other, and to surrounding communities and urban centres with a mix of transport, infrastructure, housing, and place-making interventions.

4. A new and distinctive naming and branding strategy that aligns with our partners vision and investment aspirations and will be used to attract talent, businesses, and investors.

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The key challenges

Commissioning in a complex stakeholder environment has multiple challenges:

• Each commission involved multiple organisations with a wide range of objectives and outcomes across different time horizons.

• A wide range of live commissions were already in progress at a region and sub-regional level, that we wanted to align with and add to, but not duplicate. For example, there were:

  • Approximately 13 pre-existing innovation reviews that needed to be built upon, not duplicated.

  • Approximately 4 existing spatial strategies or development plans (either housing-led of area-based), that cut through the innovation district, but nothing that took a comprehensive view of the whole area.

  • Existing investment strategies for major infrastructure projects (road and rail) that need to be refreshed.

• Each commission involved a range of different disciplines for example planners, transport specialists, architects, developers, branding and communications specialists – each with different perspectives and processes to be followed.

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The approach taken

• We established and facilitated 4 commissioning groups of public sector and private sector experts. These groups typically contained 10-15 experts in their field.

• The capabilities reference group included representatives from the universities and the regional technology organisations, as well as OEM, SME, and startup businesses.

• The skills, training and business support group included FE/HE training providers, council officers, representing business support services, and a range of businesses who will be the end-user client for these services.

• The spatial strategy had approximately 7 council planners and transport planners, plus a private sector transport advisor, and approximately 20 other public sector groups, developers, landowners, and university estate managers.

• The branding group had representatives from the marketing and communication teams of our core partners; the two councils and two universities, the SYMCA and Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park.

• Each of these groups met regularly to define the key challenges and agree the questions at the heart of the scope of work. Collectively, we prepared the specifications, and a sub-set of each group guided the procurement, and subsequently the delivery of the work with the appointed consultants.

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Outcome and impact

This process delivered 4 high-quality reports that were the centrepiece of the program. The benefits of our approach included:

• Buy-in from key stakeholders. The process was inclusive, and voices were heard. Everyone believed the work would add value to their organisation as well as move the collective group forward.

• Recommendations that could not be ignored. The work was shaped by the stakeholders and for the stakeholders. When completed, the report’s recommendations were supported by everyone involved – which helped maintain momentum.

• Practical recommendations for immediate action. We developed a set of propositions that could be invested in and implemented in the short, medium, and long-term. We provided a bridge between strategy and implementation.

 

These outputs have been critical to the recent success of South Yorkshire in being awarded an Investment Zone as announced by The Chancellor of the Exchequer in Sheffield on 13th July, 2023.

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