Launch of Warrington Youth Zone Report
In 2024, we were proud to support Warrington Youth Zone as our charity of the year. The Youth Zone does incredible work with children and young people in Warrington and has made a real difference to so many. We worked with the Youth Zone on a research project to understand the impacts they’ve had in their first two years of operation and earlier this week, we were delighted to attend an event to celebrate the launch of the report. The report launch was followed by the Youth Zone’s Annual Awards Night where we had a great time celebrating the achievements of the fantastic young people and volunteers. Big thanks to AMION’s Tim Sullivan and Eddie Melhuish as well as our research partners, Spirul ????: https://lnkd.in/d76PqjKK
AMION Consulting Celebrates 24 years on Homes England Framework Panel
AMION Consulting has been appointed to the new £15 million Homes England Strategic Research, Economics and Evaluation Framework 2024-2028 to provide economic, evaluation and research services. Membership of the framework, which can be used by a wide range of public sector organisations, is seen as the hallmark of quality within the economic development sector. AMION Consulting, which specialises in economic development and regeneration, maintains its unique position as the only firm to have been a member of the framework since it started in 2000. Under past frameworks, AMION has helped to produce several industry-standard economics policy guides such as the pioneering Additionality Guide, now used across the globe to assess the real, additional impact of public interventions. More recently, AMION prepared the business case for the £300 million strategic brownfield development scheme, Hind Street Urban Village which aims to bring 1,500 new homes to Birkenhead. The business case successfully secured £25 million of grant funding from Homes England to make the scheme viable. Simon Dancer, Director, said: “Our position with Homes England has ensured we’ve continued to be a go-to, trusted partner for authorities and organisations for over two decades. For almost 25 years, we have supported Homes England with a variety of projects including placemaking research, project business cases, secondments and endowment policy. With the government looking to accelerate house building across England, we are perfectly positioned to support local partners with their growth ambitions.” AMION is currently supporting other major economic development and regeneration projects across the UK including the £3.9 billion Ebbsfleet Garden City in Kent, the £1.9 billion Smithfield development in Birmingham and the £0.5 billion Central Docks scheme in Liverpool. Homes England logo is public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
AMION Consulting Director and former Whitehall economist joins the Institute of Economic Development Board
AMION are delighted to announce that Simon Dancer has been appointed to the Board of the Institute of Economic Development (IED), the UK’s leading professional body for economic development and regeneration practitioners. With over 25 years’ experience in the field, Simon looks forward to championing the cause of economic development. With the government’s flagship policy of 1.5 million new houses before the end of the Parliament, this sector has never looked so prominent. Read Simon’s full profile via Insider Media: AMION Consulting Director and former Whitehall economist joins Institute of Economic Development Board | Insider Media
Demystifying Subsidy Control – AMION Leads The Way To CMA Referrals
Subsidy Control – what’s it all about? After years of navigating the European Union’s State Aid regime, the United Kingdom’s new Subsidy Control legislation came into effect in January 2023. Emanating from Brexit, this momentous legislative event changed the rulebook that applies to financial support made by public authorities. In this article, we help to demystify the new Subsidy Control regime. We also outline how AMION has been leading the field, supporting public sector clients with challenging referrals to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) through its Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU). What’s changed since Brexit? Subsidy Control is the UK’s framework for regulating financial support given by public authorities to organisations engaged in economic activity. Its purpose is to ensure that subsidies do not distort competition, create unfair market advantages, or negatively impact international trade. Prior to Brexit, the UK adhered to the EU’s State Aid rules. These rules were designed to regulate government subsidies across all EU Member States, ensuring that no single country could give unfair financial support that might distort the EU’s Internal Market. However, with the country’s departure from the EU, the State Aid regime no longer applies. In its place, the country has implemented the Subsidy Control Act 2022. The key differences in the new Subsidy Control framework include decentralised decision-making, where public authorities now “self-assess” subsidy compliance without needing prior approval from the European Commission, as well as a proportionate approach, which allows for varying levels of scrutiny based on the subsidy’s size and potential market impact, helping to streamline smaller and lower risk subsidies. What needs to be notified to the CMA? Under the UK’s Subsidy Control framework, certain types of subsidies must be notified to the CMA through its SAU for review before they can be awarded. This process ensures that subsidies likely to have a significant impact on competition are carefully scrutinised, maintaining fairness in the marketplace. The SAU assesses whether subsidies meet the criteria set out by the Subsidy Control Act and provide “non-binding” advice to the granting authority. Subsidies of Particular Interest (SoPI) are the main category requiring mandatory notification. These are subsidies that have a higher potential to distort competition, such as large-scale financial support (usually over £10 million), or those in sectors of strategic importance. In contrast, Subsidies of Interest (SoI), while not requiring mandatory notification, can also be voluntarily referred to the SAU if the granting authority believes there may be competition concerns. AMION supports its public clients to help determine is notification to the CMA is required. How can AMION assist? Navigating the complexities of the new Subsidy Control regime can be challenging. At AMION, we provide expert guidance to help clients comply with the framework. Our services include: Preparing SAU Referral Reports – AMION has extensive experience in producing comprehensive subsidy referral reports for submission to the SAU, ensuring all necessary details are captured to facilitate a smooth review process. Guidance on Key Referral Topics – AMION provide expert advice on key referral topics, including defining clear policy objectives, addressing market failures, considering social equity impacts, and developing a strong reference case (the ‘Do Nothing’ scenario). Developing an Evidence Base – AMION support clients in building a robust evidence base for their subsidy referral, including market competition analysis, primary data collection, and socio-economic assessments, to strengthen their case. Navigating the SAU Process – AMION helps clients navigate each stage of the SAU referral process, from pre-referral planning to potential liaison with the Department for Business and Trade, ensuring compliance and timely submissions. AMION Case studies Here are just two case studies showcasing AMION’s expertise in helping clients achieve compliance while unlocking the strategic value of their subsidies. Lancaster City Council (Eden Project Morecambe) – AMION supported the analysis of the competitive market by delivering a primary research study. This landmark cultural and environmental project required detailed assessment to evaluate potential market distortions. AMION’s team collected data on local and regional competitors, produced a thorough competitive market analysis, and developed an evidence-backed report for submission to the SAU that presented a compelling case for the subsidy in alignment with the Subsidy Control principles (view the SAU response here). London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (Long-Term Loan for Affordable Housing) – AMION worked with Barking and Dagenham on a low-interest, long-term loan subsidy designed to support affordable housing management. Our team provided complete assistance in understanding legal advice surrounding the subsidy, calculating its value, and preparing a robust referral report for submission to the SAU (view the SAU response here). We also helped the borough develop a strong evidence base to demonstrate the social equity rationale of the subsidy. Want to know more? If you are looking for expert guidance on navigating the UK’s Subsidy Control obstacle course, in particular CMA support with your subsidy project, AMION is here to help. Please contact Simon Dancer – simondancer@amion.co.uk
Bradford City of Culture 2025 – AMION appointed to lead Economic Impact and Value for Money Assessment
AMION Consulting has been appointed to undertake the official Economic Impact and Value for Money Assessment of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture runs from January 2025 to December 2025 and is a celebration of Bradford city and district, taking place across its city, towns, villages and greenspaces. It is set to have a lifelong impact, through its reshaping of the local curriculum, skills and training programmes, investment in existing and new creative spaces, and opening up opportunities for cultural participation. It is helping to make Bradford one of the most welcoming places in the UK for artists, producers and creative entrepreneurs to flourish, through international exchanges, development programmes and investment in new cultural hubs. AMION’s two-year study will include quantifying local spending, employment, volunteering, funding, image, and other impacts of Bradford 2025, all in compliance with the HM Treasury Green and Magenta Books. The commission also includes the development of social cost benefit analysis, together with the wider qualitative social impacts arising from the Bradford City of Culture. This research builds on AMION’s enviable track record in this field, which includes the evaluation of Coventry City of Culture, economic impact assessment of Liverpool’s hosting of Eurovision, and evaluation of Historic England’s High Street Heritage Action Zone programme. The AMION-led team includes specialist inputs from longstanding partners, Simetrica-Jacobs, and Spirul. Simetrica-Jacobs will consult with stakeholders to design a contingent valuation survey using the sector-leading online survey platform, Qualtrics. Spirul will undertake a programme of in-person visitor surveys to collect the data for the impact assessment. Our team is working closely with Bradford 2025 and its evaluation and research partners, including the University of Bradford, to ensure our assessments are robust, credible and useable for accountability, learning, and legacy. As part of this, we are also collaborating with Making Impact Matter who are leading the Social Value Assessment of Bradford 2025, to ensure these innovative bottom-up insights are incorporated into our findings. Together, our findings will represent the full Economic and Social Value Impact Assessment (ESVIA) for Bradford 2025. To explore the Bradford 2025 event programme, click here: Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture For further information on AMION’s commission, please contact Matthew Budd (matthewbudd@amion.co.uk).
AMION supports a major transformation project on the Wirral
We are thrilled to have supported Wirral Council‘s successful application for £51m in Homes England and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority funding for the transformational Hind Street scheme in Birkenhead ???? Our team played a pivotal role, from supporting the development of the Strategic Outline Case (SOC) to leading the Full Business Case (FBC), ensuring every detail was aligned with best practice. Our economic modelling incorporated wider land value uplift and transport analysis in line with latest guidance from the relevant government departments. We are proud to contribute to this significant housing and regeneration project, which will drive economic growth and enhance local infrastructure. Please check out further news on this exciting scheme: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/homes-england_were-taking-our-partnership-with-liverpool-ugcPost-7249345714722340864-32J_?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop Official Announcement: Liverpool City Region and Homes England invest £51 million in Birkenhead regeneration project – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
AMION conducts Economic and Wider Impacts Report for the University of Liverpool
AMION Consulting conducted a comprehensive economic and wider impact report for the University of Liverpool. The study quantified the University’s contribution to the local, regional, and national economy by analysing factors such as student spending, research funding, and graduate employment. AMION provided valuable insights into the University’s role as a catalyst for economic growth and development. The report also explored the wider societal impacts, including contributions to innovation, knowledge transfer, and community engagement. University of Liverpool graduates at AMION were fortunate to work on the project and reflected on how studies like this can shine a light on higher education’s major economic contribution to local economies and varied impacts to community, culture and society. View the news story and report here: https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2024/09/25/university-contributes-1-2bn-to-the-liverpool-city-region/
Warrington Youth Zone – AMION is committed to Social Value
AMION are excited to be working with Warrington Youth Zone as part of our social value commitment to local communities. We are currently carrying out research to demonstrate the benefits that the Youth Zone is delivering to young people in Warrington and to the wider community. Warrington Youth Zone opened in 2022 and gives all young people from Warrington a place to call their own, with over 20 activities to try each session, staffed by skilled youth workers who believe in young people and help them see what they could achieve. The Youth Zones approach was developed by OnSide and is underpinned by a clear vision and purpose that aims to meet the needs and expectations of the different target groups in the local area, including young people and parents. The overarching aim of Youth Zones is to enable young people to enjoy their leisure time and to reach their full potential. Warrington Youth Zone is one of 14 Youth Zones across the country, with a further seven currently under development. For information, please contact Tim Sullivan at timsullivan@amion.co.uk
Finding a New Future for Belper’s Beautiful Challenging Mills
Working with huge Grade 1 and Grade 2 listed mill buildings is both a joy and a challenge, and we spend quite a lot of our time working on projects of this type. We first started working on the Belper Mills complex back in 2020, so when we were appointed again by The Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site (DVMWHS) Partnership for a second study last year, we went into it with delight, but also with our eyes open. We knew just how lovely the setting is and how significant these magnificent buildings are, not just to local people but also to the nation. But we also knew all about the complexities which underpin its recent history, its current use and the long standing planning application, lodged by the site owners, which has been under consideration by Amber Valley Borough Council since 2018. Our proposal, to develop an alternative scheme for the site therefore was to go right back to basics and examine, with fresh eyes and a realistic perspective, a mix of uses which would be appropriate for the buildings, for the town and for the World Heritage Site as a whole. For the study we brought together a team of knowledgeable friends – Mosedale Gillatt conservation architects, Aspinall Verdi commercial property consultants and Appleyard and Trew Quantity Surveyors – a team that has worked together on many ‘tricky’ but interesting heritage projects over the years. One of the things that we genuinely enjoyed about this work (alongside having the chance to work once again with a committed and highly engaged client team and wider steering group), was the opportunity that it provided us with to explore sectors and uses that we don’t normally get to consider – in particular modern industrial uses that could potentially provide the 21st Century equivalent of their original purpose. Rather sadly, having explored a number of such uses, talking to sector experts and assessing building and market requirements, none emerged as viable options for the future of the site, for a range of different reasons. But the thorough process that we went through did ensure that the short list of viable opportunities that we were eventually able to test through public consultation was one that we all had confidence in. In the end, the preferred options were probably no great surprise. You can read about them here: Belper Mills Future – Derwent Valley Mills. But there were a number of things that were, without doubt, highly valuable to the Partnership. Our study was able to indicate a mix and scale of use that has the best chance of being viable meanwhile allowing us to test the response to, and viability of, some fairly radical alternatives. It also provided a realistic conservation deficit cost (a figure which recognises the difference in cost between delivering a fully commercial scheme compared to delivering it on a heritage site). The gap, inevitably, is significant! The process also provided a valuable forum for our colleagues at Derbyshire County Council to engage with local residents and stakeholders to understand how the site can best add value to its community in the future. So what happens now? Well, change is not going to happen on the site any time soon. The planning application still needs to be determined and eventually significant levels of public funding will need to be found, alongside large amounts of commercial development funding. But our work, and everything that went into it, will play a role in ensuring that sound decisions can now be made in helping the site to move into the next phase of its long existence. We look forward to it…. Image Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=715151
AMION Consulting selected as Ebbsfleet Development Corporation’s business case advisor
After a competitive procurement exercise, AMION Consulting has been selected as the sole Business Case Advisor for Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC). The appointment, which will run up to 2028, will see AMION provide the Corporation with a single source of support for Business Cases with a particular focus on the delivery of Green Book compliant economic analysis. To support the Corporation’s ambitions of delivering Ebbsfleet Garden City, AMION will provide business case advice relating to housing, regeneration, community, leisure, health and transport interventions. The commission builds upon a close and highly successful working relationship between Ebbsfleet Development Corporation and AMION, which has seen AMION operate as a trusted economics advisor since 2018. Over the past six years, AMION has already prepared Business Cases for several high-profile projects including the Northfleet Embankment East and acquisition of the Observatory – which is now the Office Headquarters of the Corporation. AMION has also supported the preparation of Spending Review submissions to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and HM Treasury as well as recently completing a programme-level benefits review for the Corporation’s projects. Across the appointment, AMION is committed to supporting ambitions in relation to three core Social Value themes of Community, Environment and Economy. This is in line with AMION’s recognition of our responsibility to contribute positively to the communities in which we work. AMION is looking forward to partnering with Ebbsfleet Development Corporation over the next four years, as we continue to cement our reputation as a market leader in the field of Green Book compliant Business Cases.
Exciting news for Sandwell
AMION is proud to have helped realize Sandwell’s first university campus – the Midland Met Learning Campus. This new campus, adjacent to the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, will train over 1,280 students annually. It is expected a substantial proportion of the students who graduate from the Campus will be recruited into the University Hospital’s own workforce. We assisted the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) in securing a £5 million investment by preparing the “Green Book” Business Case. This project is a collaboration with Sandwell Council, Sandwell College, University of Wolverhampton, and Aston University. Excited to see the positive impact on our community and the future of healthcare education! #HigherEducation #Healthcare #CommunityDevelopment #Collaboration
AMION steps into the future of clean energy
AMION colleagues recently visited Hinkley Point C, the first new nuclear power station in the UK for 30 years, which is currently under construction in Somerset. The visit was related to AMION’s ongoing consultancy engagement to assess the potential economic impact of the STEP – a UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) programme that will demonstrate the ability to generate net energy from fusion. STEP will be a world-leading fusion programme, showcasing UK science and energy policy, and bringing visibility to its host community on a global stage. AMION is working with the UKAEA and local partners to estimate the local, national and global economic impacts arising from the project, helping to inform long-term planning that will create tangible opportunities for business and communities. Please contact Peter Alford if you want to discuss: peteralford@amion.co.uk
