Programme outcomes and impacts

Job Outcomes

The following outcomes are for all projects approved up to July 2023.

These figures are likely to represent an underrepresentation of actual performance due to the following:

• Whilst contracted job outcome targets for all 310 projects are included, recently funded projects will not have achieved these job outcomes at the time of reporting due to the associated time lag
• Invest to Grow does not systematically monitor or report additional/longer-term job creation in participant businesses once core jobs targets are achieved – it is therefore probable that a greater number of jobs will have been enabled than those reported (as evidenced via individual business case studies)

These factors will also mean the current cost per job figure is slightly higher than the reality.

Private Sector Funding Leveraged

At the time of writing the programme has defrayed £12.9m grants to businesses, which are additional to £125.6m private sector funding that also contributed to the projects. This demonstrates the significant financial leverage enabled by the Invest to Grow funding, whereby for every £1 contributed by the programme an additional £10 of private sector investment was leveraged.

Whilst several business beneficiaries stated their projects would not have proceeded at all without Invest to Grow funding, feedback identified the funding was particularly important regarding:

• Bringing projects forward to ensure they occurred at an earlier date than they would otherwise (36% of feedback survey respondents) – often enabling specific opportunities to be accessed
• Increasing the scale of projects whereby greater spend/activity could be included (27%) - leading to more significant impact

A key factor enabling leverage was the relatively competitive interest rates and limited security requirements offered by the programme, alongside the support and flexibility provided by Invest to Grow (e.g. ease of application, loan repayment flexibility etc).

Gross Value Added and Value for Money

Based on achieved job outcomes, it is estimated Invest to Grow has already provided a net Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution to the East Midlands economy of £63m. The programme demonstrates ‘high’ Value for Money (VfM) based on monetisation of its job outcomes, even when excluding persistence effects and other benefit types.

GVA contribution

Given that the primary outcome data collected by Invest to Grow is its job outcomes, this is the most appropriate outcome to use when estimating the programme’s economic impact.

This represents a significant level of impact, particularly when recognising it occurred during a time of unique and considerable external economic challenge.  It also demonstrates the significant role universities can play in terms of supporting the regional economy, with clear alignment to key performance indicators such as HE-BCI and KEF.

VfM Analysis

A quantified estimate of VfM can be made for the programme to date by comparing its inputs with its monetised outcomes to date* in order to provide an estimated Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR).

The BCR shows the relationship between the relative costs and benefits of an intervention, expressed in monetary terms. Invest to Grow’s BCR is 3.53, whereby for every £1 spent, an estimated £3.53 benefit is generated. Government guidance indicates this represents ‘high’ VfM. When incorporating persistence effects, the programme’s BCR increases to 10.72.