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Superfast West Yorkshire & York evaluation
Client:
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Study objectives:
• Complete Summative Assessment in line with guidance from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government;
• Identify the overall economic impact of providing superfast broadband to businesses across Yorkshire;
• Engage stakeholders to gather their feedback on areas of the project that have been successful and areas for improvement.
John Bullivent - Programme Manager
Thrive Economics performed the work in a professional and engaging manner. I have no reservations about strongly endorsing them.'
We were appointed to complete an impact evaluation of the £13.8 million Superfast West Yorkshire scheme. The scheme had £6.89 million of funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the evaluation had to meet the Summative Assessment guidance.
We analysed the context at the time the project was developed, and tracked key trends during the delivery period. We identified a model to forecast benefits that businesses adopting superfast broadband may gain, and use this to devise a bespoke survey. We completed 150 telephone interviews with businesses that had, and had not adopted superfast broadband. Our analysis revealed that:
• Businesses adopting superfast broadband gained benefits including enhanced business performance; easier adoption of new technologies; and, improved access to new markets;
• Businesses that adopt superfast broadband forecast creating 0.85 more full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs, than businesses that do not adopt it; and,
• The project will deliver £113 million in net Gross Value Added for the West Yorkshire and York area, if the full target of businesses with access to superfast broadband is reached.
We completed all research and the report ahead of schedule, and delivered a presentation to stakeholders with key findings and recommendations.