How Kada Research is helping to inform long term plans for Sheffield's economy

If you pop into a breakfast organised by the Archer project in Sheffield, there is a chance your bacon and eggs will be served by Karl Dalgleish or one of his colleagues.

The project is a place where homeless and vulnerable people can take steps to a better life by improving their independence and resilience. It is a cause close to Mr Dalgleish’s heart.

From his base in the iconic ‘brutalist’ Park Hill flats complex, Mr Dalgleish is determined to play a role in the city’s economic renaissance.

His economic development consultancy, Kada, provides research, analysis and advice to the public, private and non-profit sectors to raise their game. He wants to help create a city where nobody struggles to find a place to call home.

“I love Sheffield; it’s a very green city with easy access to the Peaks and is on the cusp of some important regeneration activity at the moment,” he said.

“The technical part of our role involves coming up with a return on investment figure. We use a social return on investment model to undertake the calculations.

“For instance we have looked at the impact of a new build scheme for homeless people on behalf of a Sheffield charity, the Archer project, where one of Kada’s directors is a trustee.”

“We did work for the charity pro bono and advise them on other matters such as funding and housing.

“Sometimes we volunteer to serve breakfast or help with other requirements such as sorting out donations. We also donated towards a new oven last year.”

Mr Dalgleish, a chartered town planner with almost 30 years of experience in economic development, decided to set up his own niche practice in 2011, after being headhunted for a role in London, which didn’t work out.

“I decided to start a business in Sheffield, something I always wanted to do. It was the best career decision I’ve made,” he said.

“Our commissions are quite varied,” he said. “A lot of our research currently relates to assessing economic futures after the Covid years and advising on replacement funds for EU funding.”

His work could bring more jobs and investment to Yorkshire’s traditional economic heartland.

“We can take lessons from Europe, where we have been working for many years, and see how they can be applied to UK successor funds,” he said.

“One of our biggest current research projects relates to compiling an evidence base to inform a new Inclusive Economic Strategy for the Sheffield City Partnership.

“We’re working with the Derbyshire Dales and South Derbyshire on implementation plans for a new fund called the Shared Prosperity Fund, which is part of the UK’s Levelling Up Agenda.

“The way the case is made for funding has changed in recent years.

“In addition to the economic effects we are being asked to assess social and health values and benefits.”

He is also determined to win over hearts and minds.

“A lot of our work involves engagement, this could be with residents, businesses, decision makers or politicians,” he said.

“It’s about listening to people and navigating through the political process.

“You sometimes have to be aware of political and policy realities and this involves keeping people involved and informed throughout.

“We are the biggest consultancy of our type in Sheffield; we have a team of six today and will have doubled to a team of 12 in September.”

His work has also focused on the troubling impact of Covid on the economy.

“In some cases it has exacerbated the social divide within cities,” he said. “Covid has certainly broadened out discussions about the economy with our clients.

“They recognise the importance of wellbeing, health and the environment.”

Traditionally, it has been hard for some firms in his sector to attract staff in Sheffield, although there are signs this is changing.

“Sheffield is not always an obvious first choice in the North and historically many larger firms have tended to gravitate toward Leeds and Manchester.

“Since the pandemic this has changed and we seem to have less challenges with recruitment due to flexible working.

“Some of our staff are based around the UK and those based in Sheffield love the city. We plan to expand physically by taking more space at Park Hill.

“Our work recently for the Sheffield City Partnership has shown that the city does have some serious issues to address. There is health inequality and social deprivation.”

However, he stressed that Sheffield does have a highly skilled workforce when compared with other northern cities.

He added; “There are niches in certain industries such as advanced manufacturing, digital technologies and around health and wellbeing and we have some really dynamic independent businesses as well as household names and global firms.

“The city can build businesses from within and there are some interesting examples of wealth creation including employee owned companies and co-operatives.

“ Our work is improving the lives of citizens, the resilience of businesses and organisations and the quality of places and neighbourhoods.”

He added “It’s really rewarding to see projects we have advised on going ahead and making a difference.

“We want to get to £1m turnover in two years and have appointed a high-calibre board to help us get there and have several new appointments in the pipeline.”

He added: “After that, we will consider a number of succession options including employee ownership.”