Compelling business case for investment in sustainable environmental regeneration

Greening for Growth
The client is a Northumberland based partnership of twelve government agencies and local government authorities including The Countryside Agency, English Nature, Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission. It was formed to develop and implement the proposals contained in the Northumberland Coalfield Environmental Enhancement Strategy (NCEES) government document of 2000. The Greening for Growth partnership aims to increase business and public confidence and attract inward investment to the region through long-term programmes of environmental improvement and community action.

The Issue
Hambalt , in partnership with RSK ENSR
International, an environmental consultancy, conducted
a consultation exercise with regeneration professionals
and local business professionals to identify the priorities
for the region. The consultation exercise led to the development of five distinct regeneration programmes for urban or rural areas. Hambalt was asked to quantify the economic benefit of each programme and to write the business case to attract private and public sector investment to fund the programmes.

Approach
The quantitative analysis drew on an extensive survey of existing research and reports in the field. Hambalt modelled the different costs and economic benefits associated with each programme and the evolution of these over time. Costs and benefits were modelled using a mutually exclusive, completely exhaustive (MECE) approach. This avoided double counting or overlap of benefits and costs across multiple projects.

The model allows inputs such as set-up costs, maintenance costs and discount rate to be varied. The outputs from the model include costs, benefits, net benefit for each programme or across programmes on a year-by-year or cumulative basis, and NPV. The outputs from the model form the basis of the business case written by Hambalt for Greening for Growth to attract investment for the programmes.

The Outcome
Hambalt’s insight contributed significant new thinking to the case for regeneration. The business case built on rigorous analysis and thoroughly documented data and assumptions has provided the Greening for Growth team with a powerful tool to attract public and private sector investment.