Our Experience

Morgan Jones Associates is a new, dedicated economic development, regeneration and sustainability consultancy.

We work with both private and public sector clients to help plan and deliver efficient and effective economic development and regeneration in a sustainable way.

Developing a spatial economic analysis tool

As a Director of SQW, Gareth was appointed by the South West Observatory on behalf of all the upper tier local authorities in the South West region to develop a tool to help them to consider and understand their functional economic geography. The LEA process requires consideration of the functional economic geography that a local authority works within, rather than a simple focus on their administrative boundary. Gareth and his team collected over 100 socio–economic datasets and developed a GIS–based system to allow users to analyse these and present them in a graphical way. The tool is available from the South West Observatory, and a full report is available on their website.

Link to SWO Report

Gareth also undertook a dedicated piece of work on spatial economic analysis for Devon County Council, using the spatial economic analysis tool.

This work builds on work that Gareth had delivered six years earlier, reviewing the spatial dynamics of the South West region, and defining functional economic zones. This earlier work was used to inform the Regional Economic Strategy and the Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West.

Undertaking a local economic assessment

Gareth was appointed by the council to develop the first Local Economic Assessment for Bath & North East Somerset, whilst a Director of SQW. This involved the collection of very detailed data at the lowest possible geographical level; discussion of key issues through consultations and workshops with a wide range of stakeholders in the local area; and analysis to understand the underlying socio-economic trends and their implications for the future. The LEA will be used as a common data source to inform all future policy work undertaken in B&NES.

Developing an economic vision for South Bristol

Gareth was appointed by the South West RDA to develop an economic vision for South Bristol (with a resident population of 140,000), to help to develop solutions to the long–standing deprivation in the area. Gareth undertook a thorough socio–economic review of South Bristol and of the surrounding area in order to understand the nature and cause of local deprivation, and to help to develop solutions. This was supported with extensive stakeholder consultation. Out of this analysis, a vision was developed. Specific projects were identified and developed to support the implementation of the vision, and a range of funding sources for these projects was investigated.

Testing the feasibility of a business incubation centre

Gareth Jones, then a Director of SQW, was appointed by Eastleigh Borough Council to test the feasibility of a proposed enterprise centre as part of the wider regeneration of an industrial estate. Gareth and the team undertook a review of the growth prospects of the local and sub–regional economies to identify growing sectors; reviewed the local market including other providers of similar space; carried out extensive consultation with a range of stakeholders including potential occupiers, higher education institutes, and the site owner; and drew upon the experience of our partner organisation who was an experienced workspace operator. From this, we were able to advise on the feasibility of a business incubator centre, including initial findings on the need for public subsidy to make this work.

Appraising eco town bids for funding

When a Director of SQW, Gareth was appointed by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to help with the appraisal of bids from the four short–listed eco towns for growth funding to support enabling developments. Gareth carried out a review of their submissions and programmes of development, including an assessment of their spend over time. Using this piece of work, the HCA was able to allocate initial funds to support early projects.

Options appraisals for investment in tourism and leisure projects

Whilst a Director of DTZ, Gareth was commissioned by organisations such as the South West RDA and North Somerset Council to carry out options appraisals for potential investments in projects including the Eden Project, Tate St Ives, National Marine Aquarium, new Bristol Zoo site and a proposed marina at Weston super Mare. These options appraisals were used to determine whether or not to spend RDA single pot funding and European funding, and helped North Somerset Council decide not to investment in a proposed marina development.

Options appraisal and development support for an enterprise institute and a marine institute

Gareth assisted Plymouth University and Cornwall College with the development of their plans for an enterprise institute to support new enterprise formation and growth in Cornwall, and a subsequent bid for European funding. Gareth worked closely with the Plymouth Marine Science Partnership – comprising four globally recognised R&D institutes – to test and develop their plans for a centre to accommodate all of them in a single building.

Testing the feasibility of a new global city

When a Director of DTZ, Gareth was appointed by an Indian based multinational wind–turbine manufacturer and wind–farm developer to lead an international team to test the feasibility of creating a new global city of one million people in India. This involved the development of a concept for the city, definition of the socio–economic base, and headline costing for the development. The purpose of this work was to test the feasibility of creating a new city in India and to inform discussions between the developer and the Indian government.

Employment land reviews for a major retailer

Whilst a Director of DTZ Gareth carried out a number of reviews of local employment land supply and demand to identify whether future demand could be accommodated within the existing supply, particularly given the changing nature of demand as the industrial structure, ways of working and working practices change. This helped to support planning applications for proposed new stores on employment land.

Economic impact of a major employment site

Gareth was appointed by Leda Properties, the site owner, to assess the current and future economic impact of an existing industrial estate which was having to apply for retrospective planning permission. Gareth acted as an expert witness at the planning inquiry, and contributed to the success of the case which enabled the continuation of this major source of local employment.

Making the economic case for a new settlement in an AONB

As a Director of DTZ Gareth was appointed by the owner and developer of a former MoD base in the Cotswolds to assess the social and economic benefits of a proposed new settlement to support a planning application. This was carried out for Gladedale, the site owner.

Assessing the need and demand for employment land in a major urban extension

Gareth led a team which assessed the need and demand for employment land within a proposed mixed use urban extension to Cheltenham for the developer, Persimmon, and advised on the quantum of employment land required. This analysis was used as evidence to inform a planning application and subsequent planning inquiry.

Assessing the need and demand for employment land in a mixed–use urban extension

Gareth led a team which carried out an assessment of the employment land need and demand for a proposed mixed use extension to Yate near Bristol for the developer, Heron Land. This involved reviewing the growth prospects for the town, and general economic growth forecasts for the sub–region, and identifying the role of the urban extension within this. This work informed the planning application and subsequent inquiry.

Developing area-based economic growth plans and strategies

Whilst a Director of DTZ Gareth has led projects to create sustainable economic development strategies for places such as Salisbury, Weston super Mare, Stevenage, Portsmouth and Southampton, and the development of a market towns programme for the West Midlands. Clients have included RDAs and local authorities. Gareth helped to create a sub–regional economic development strategy for the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (a partnership of 11 local authorities), and updated this following the onset of global economic recession. He also assessed the growth prospects for South Hampshire to inform the Regional Spatial Strategy for the South East. Gareth undertook a comprehensive study into the supply of and demand for employment land in West Midlands region, and provided advice on the development of policies to support employment land in Regional Spatial Strategy.

Creating sector development strategies

Gareth has helped with the development of many sector strategies, for regions, sub–regions and local areas. Examples include: a strategy for the development of the earth, marine, environmental and land science sector for the Welsh Assembly Government; a strategy for the growth of the creative industries for the South London Partnership; and an assessment of the key features of the biotechnology and ICT sectors in the South West, South East, London, North West, Yorkshire & Humber and Scotland for UK Trade & Investment. Gareth has also helped to shape regional sector support strategies covering all priority sectors in the South West and the East Midlands for the respective RDAs.

Creating a regional low carbon economic development strategy

Gareth was commissioned by Advantage West Midlands (the regional development agency) to develop a series of projects into a low carbon economic development strategy for the West Midlands region. This involved project feasibility testing, and project development including early stage funding negotiations.

Creating a regional strategy for dealing with waste

Gareth was commissioned by Advantage West Midlands (the RDA) to create a GIS model and regional strategy for diverting waste away from landfill through finding the optimum locations for recycling, waste–to–energy and biomass. This involved gathering large amounts of socio–economic and other types of data, analysing them using GIS, and finding those locations where the collection of the waste streams and the consumption of the outputs (energy, heat, compost etc) was optimal.

Measuring the economic impact of the renewable energy sector

Gareth was commissioned by Regen SW (the region‘s renewable energy body) to quantify the economic impact of the renewable energy sector in the South West both now and in the future. Future scenarios were based on forecast growth in renewable energy production and consumption. This work was repeated several times, taking account of changes driven by global recession.

Measuring the economic impact of the Severn tidal power schemes

Gareth was appointed by a group of clients including DECC, BIS, SWRDA and WAG to assess the economic impact of the proposed Severn tidal power options, including the Severn Barrage. This information was used to inform the government‘s consultation process on Severn tidal power.

Testing feasibility of a renewable energy park

Gareth was appointed by the Camborne Pool Redruth urban regeneration company to test the feasibility of their investment into the creation of a new renewable energy business park in Cornwall.

Evaluating the impact of £900 million of European and match spending in the South West

Whilst a Director of SQW, Gareth was appointed to carry out a mid term review of the ERDF Convergence programme in Cornwall and the ERDF Competitiveness programme in the rest of the South West. The Programme Monitoring Committees (PMCs) needed to know how the two programmes were progressing and whether they were on-track to achieve their forecast outcomes. The two PMCs used this information to make changes to the delivery of the programmes in the future.

Formative evaluation of £3.8 billion of European and match spending in Wales

Whilst a Director of DTZ, Gareth led the ex ante (formative) evaluation of two ERDF programmes and two ESF programmes in Wales. Gareth and his team worked alongside the Welsh European Funding Organisation (WEFO) whilst they were developing the four Operational Programmes (OPs). As a result of this work, the OPs were refined to ensure that they helped to tackle different the socio-economic needs in different parts of Wales.

Evaluations of business support programmes

Whilst a Director of SQW and a Director of DTZ, Gareth has led evaluations of a series of programmes for the Welsh Assembly Government, South West RDA and North West RDA. These include: Specialist Support to Business, Manufacturing Advisory Service, National Procurement Website for Wales, New Business Starts Programme, Potentia (business start support to minority groups), Bioapproaches (biotechnology support), High–Growth Business Support, and Farming Connect, and the MIDAS inward investment agency in the North West

Evaluation of investment in business incubators and property

Whilst a Director of SQW and a Director of DTZ, Gareth led and was involved in the evaluation of the impact of several business incubation centres in the South West (in Bristol, Bath and Bournemouth) for SWRDA. Gareth led the evaluation of the Technium programme of ten business incubators in Wales for WAG. Gareth led the evaluation of the public investment in the Temple Quay office development in Bristol for SWRDA.

Other evaluation experience

Gareth has developed a monitoring and evaluation framework for a sub–regional economic development programme in South Hampshire. He has also evaluated the impact of the public sector response to major events including significant flooding in Gloucestershire and the outbreak of Foot & Mouth Disease in the West Midlands.