2 co-workers discuss work on a laptop while one points to the screen with her pencil.
The stat of '1137 businesses contacted' surrounded by icons of a lightbulb, the earth and a graph.

The Brief.

We are currently working with Lincolnshire County Council to deliver a real- time evaluation service for The Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub - a fantastic resource that supports Greater Lincolnshire based businesses to start and grow their businesses. 

We have designed and deployed a range of evaluation tools over the last three years to conduct cross-cutting real-time evaluation. Our regular reporting back to the Growth Hub allows the service to respond and adapt quickly to changing customer wants and needs. 

The statistic of '106 completed surveys' is surrounded by various business-related icons.

The Research.

At the start of the contract, we set up four evaluation strands; the Growth Hub & Growth Lincolnshire Programme evaluation, an internal stakeholder and partner evaluation, a research programme to learn from other Growth Hubs and ‘real time’ evaluation of the Growth Hub and the services it provides.

Within these strands, we used a range of techniques including gap analysis, regular in-time evaluation, online surveys with supplementary telephone surveys and telephone interviews with a range of stakeholders. 

The impact.

The findings from the evaluation work have so far helped to do the following: 

  • Design a marketing and communications strategy to support the development of the Growth Hub
  • Bring to life stories and case studies of businesses doing well
  • Re-design the service and support on offer to the business community
  • Support future planning and funding bids
  • Provide evidence to support decisions and proposed change.  
5 evaluation reports
1137 businesses contacted
106 completed surveys