Essex County Council: Follow-up Business Health Research

Business Market Research

Follow-up Research to Assess the Health of Essex Businesses - Essex County Council 

Sector:  Public

Location:  Essex 

Website:  https://www.essex.gov.uk

The Research Project

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Essex County Council (ECC) commissioned Mackman Research to investigate the impact of the global health crisis on businesses within Essex. A research study was designed to understand how enterprises were coping with the pandemic and identify the short- and long-term support most needed by businesses. Collecting data from 438 businesses also gained a perspective on future challenges at the time (such as Britain’s exit from the European Union).

Following the additional economic pressures that businesses have faced since 2020, such as the cost-of-living crisis, ECC looked to re-assess the health of businesses who participated in the initial study. This follow-up research would also help to understand how well supported businesses have felt in this time period and identified new challenges that businesses face in the new economic climate. Partnering with Mackman Research gave ECC the opportunity to conduct a comparative study, and track changes in business health over a 4-year period. 

Business Market Research Results

• Businesses “in crisis” were identified for urgent consultation with ECC Business Support Services. 

• The same business support needs were requested by business owners in both the short- and long-term, which was captured quantitatively and qualitatively. This highlighted clearly requested support themes, allowing ECC to prioritise funding and resources in these areas.  

• Compared to data collected in 2020, however, business owners were still experiencing the same barriers in accessing business support, reinforcing the need for ECC to re-evaluate access to support services in the County. 

• Data-driven, actionable recommendations were presented to the Business Support and Economic Development team at ECC.  

The Client

Essex County Council (ECC) are a local government authority in the East of England. They play a crucial role in governing and providing essential services to businesses and communities, contributing to the well-being and development of the county.  

Brand Facts

• ECC was established in 1889 and has since undergone various changes and reorganisations to adapt to evolving local government structures and responsibilities.

• They oversee twelve district and borough councils: Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Tendring and Uttlesford.

• ECC offer services in a range of areas that affect local communities, including in adult social care and health, schools, roads, streets and transport alongside business support.

• Their Business Support services provide advice, guidance and consultancy services and have the primary objective to help businesses achieve compliance and economic prosperity.

• ECC has developed its own business growth and support identity – Ambitious Essex – which collates and publicises various programmes, events, funding streams and more from across the county.

• ECC has also developed and commissioned a number of fully funded programmes, including Backing Essex Business, BEST Growth Hub and the Ambitious Essex Innovation Accelerator.

• ECC has launched the successful Ambitious Women in Essex community, which has engaged in excess of 5,000 businesses and entrepreneurs through a blend of digital engagement and in-person events.

Research Aims

• Follow up on the business health of those who had previously participated in the 2020 study.

• Understand how businesses are coping in the current economic climate, including recent changes that they’ve made in response to it.

• Determine the positive and negative impacts of the current economic climate on businesses.

• Gain a perspective on the challenges businesses face in the future.

• Identify specific areas of support in both the short- and long-term.

The Research Challenge

A level of sensitivity and compassion was required when approaching business owners in Essex as our data quickly showed that the majority of respondents were merely “surviving” in the current economic climate. Furthermore, a smaller minority of business owners had already declared their companies as dissolved since 2020, which risked respondents becoming distressed when contacted by our team. As our in-house researchers have a developed ethnographic skill set, they were able to speak with such individuals with compassion, while gaining an understanding of the circumstances under which businesses had to close.  

The Research Design & Methodology

In collaboration with Essex County Council, Mackman Research designed a survey for business owners in Essex to complete. The questionnaire developed during the 2020 study was used as a foundation in its design, with some questions remaining unchanged to allow for direct comparison and trend identification. Through discussion it was determined that some questions, however, were no longer relevant or did not provide meaningful insight. These were replaced with new questions focusing on the current economic climate, such as the cost-of-living crisis and the BREXIT aftermath.  

A mixed approach was used via online email campaign and telephone interviews to re-visit the sample of 2020 businesses who agreed to participate in future ECC business research. Email invitations were followed up with mindful, weekly reminders to those who had not yet participated while telephone interviews of the same survey encouraged business owners to voice unique issues they were dealing with. We also opted to extend the period of data collection to account for Bank Holidays/business closure days.  

Research Outcomes

Mackman Research achieved a response rate of 37% and were able to gather good quality qualitative and quantitative data. The total number of businesses reached was expectedly lower, due to a variety of reasons such as company closures which had occurred since 2020. When probed under what circumstances businesses had closed, people cited “financial pressures” resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, however, compared to figures collected in the 2020 study, the number of businesses “in crisis” and “surviving” decreased while those “thriving” increased, suggesting some recovery in business health over a 4-year time period.  

From the data gathered, Mackman Research were able to recommend to ECC which support offerings should be prioritised for businesses in The County at both a short- and long-term level. We were also able to direct them to businesses who had described themselves to be “in crisis” and open to receiving support, for urgent consultation. Further feedback regarding emerging threats businesses foresee allowed us to develop recommendations that mitigate such risks to their future health. The results of this research are informing future developments and enhancements of the Ambitious Essex identity, ensuring ECC is able to scale up its reach among the local business community. 

All our findings were provided in a detailed, visually-rich report complete with charts and tables. Qualitative feedback was also summarised by theme, allowing for easy interpretation by all readers.