We generated a return of £8.14 for every £1 invested in the West Midlands economy.

The sections below provide information about – and resources related to – how we monitored performance and evaluated impact.

In 2008, drawing on the lessons learned from our programme of impact evaluations, Advantage West Midlands began the development and implementation of a new ‘Investment and Performance Framework’ (IPF).  Its core purpose was to increase the Agency’s economic impact through the application of a logic chain approach linking inputs to measurable outputs, outcomes and impact (GVA return).  The IPF helped to inform decisions over the strategic mix of our interventions as well as improving value for money.

Under the IPF the Agency’s interventions were organised into 12 ‘Strategic Functions.’  For each Function a specification was developed including a logic chain which set out the rationale for intervention together with the objectives, inputs, outputs, outcomes and impact to be achieved.  The Strategic Function specifications were dynamic documents, to be updated on an ongoing basis.

Strategic Function Specifications

Access to Employment Strategic Function - PDF - 164kb

Access to Employment (Economic Inclusion) Strategic Function Specification

Enterprise Business Support Strategic Function - PDF - 287kb

Enterprise and Business Development Strategic Function Specification

Finance for Business Strategic Function - PDF - 223kb

Finance for Business Strategic Function Specification

Infrastructure Asset Development Strategic Function - PDF - 221kb

Infrastructure and Asset Development Strategic Function Specification

International Business Strategic Function - PDF - 240kb

International Business Strategic Function Specification

Land Buildings Strategic Function - PDF - 169kb

Land and Buildings for Economic Growth Strategic Function Specification

Market Opportunities Clusters Strategic Function - PDF - 187kb

Market Opportunities (through Clusters) Strategic Function Specification

Skills for Business Strategic Function - PDF - 208kb

Skills for Business Strategic Function Specification

Sustainable Living Working Strategic Function - PDF - 145kb

Sustainable Living and Working Strategic Function Specification

Technology Capacity Business Innovation Strategic Function - PDF - 162kb

Technology Capacity and Business Innovation Strategic Function Specification

Tourism and Culture Strategic Function - PDF - 243kb

Tourism and Culture Strategic Function Specification

Advantage West Midlands developed and implemented a comprehensive approach to evaluating the impact of our interventions.  Evaluation findings were shared with partners and the lessons learned were used to improve the impact of subsequent interventions.

In March 2009, the Government’s evaluation (Opens in new window) - PDF - 2mb of RDAs showed that Advantage West Midlands delivered £7.45 of benefit to the region for every £1 invested. Subsequent independent evaluations demonstrated that this return increased to £8.14 for every £1 invested in later years.

Evaluation Reports

Clusters Report Part 2 Annex 1 - PDF - 150kb

Evaluation report for the Cluster Programme - Part 2, Annex 1

Business Investment Programmes ( RSA/SFIE/GBI ) Report - PDF - 1mb

Evaluation of AWM's Business Investment Programmes, 2002/03 to 2008/09

Clusters Report - PDF - 131kb

Evaluation report for the Cluster Programme - Content and Executive Summary

Clusters Report Part 1 - PDF - 534kb

Evaluation report for the Cluster Programme - Part 1

Clusters Report Part 2 - PDF - 339kb

Evaluation report for the Cluster Programme - Part 2

Clusters Report Part 3 - PDF - 196kb

Evaluation report for the Cluster Programme - Part 3

Clusters Report Part 4 - PDF - 118kb

Evaluation report for the Cluster Programme - Part 4

DBIS National Report - Impact of RDA Spending - Regional Annexes (formerly DBERR) - PDF - 2mb

Impact of RDA spending National report March 2009, Volume 2, Regional Annexes

DBIS National Report - Impact of RDA Spending (formerly DBERR) - PDF - 1,005kb

Impact of RDA spending National report March 2009

High Technology Corridors Report - 2002 to 2007 - PDF - 754kb

Evaluation report for the High Technology Corridors, March 2009

High Technology Corridors Report - 2007 to 2010 - PDF - 766kb

Evaluation report for the High Technology Corridors, top up report June 2010

High Technology Corridors Report Annexes - 2002 to 2007 - PDF - 401kb

Evaluation report for the High Technology Corridors, Annexes

Inward Investment Report - 2004 to 2009 - PDF - 746kb

Evaluation of AWM's Inward Investment Programme 2004/05 to 2008/09

Land and Property Report - PDF - 801kb

An Evalation of AWM's major land and property investments, March 2009

Market Towns Report - PDF - 723kb

An Evaluation of the AWM Market Town initiative, September 2009

Mercia Spinner Report - PDF - 1mb

Evaluation report for the Mercia Spinner Programme - full report (January 2007)

Mercia Spinner Report Executive Summary - PDF - 93kb

Evaluation report for the Mercia Spinner Programme - Executive summary (January 2007)

Midlands Excellence Report - PDF - 671kb

This report presents the findings of an evaluation of Midlands Excellence, which is a registered charity dedicated to promoting and recognising excellent performance across the private and public sectors.

Premium Automotive Research and Development (PARD) Report - PDF - 751kb

An Evaluation of the Premium Automotive R&D Programme, November 2008

Regeneration Zones Report - 2002 to 2007 - PDF - 603kb

Evaluation report for the Regeneration Zones, April 2008

Regeneration Zones Report - 2007 to 2010 - PDF - 696kb

Evalation top up report for the Regeneration Zones 2007/08 to 2008/09

Rover Task Force and MG Rover Report - PDF - 797kb

An independent report by ECOTEC evaluating the 2000 and 2005 Rover Task forces

Single Regeneration Budget Report - PDF - 786kb

An Evaluation of the Single Regeneration Budget in the West Midlands , April 2008

Skills Report - 2002 to 2007 - PDF - 1mb

An Evaluation of AWM's Skills interventions, March 2009

Skills Report - 2007 to 2009 - PDF - 962kb

An Evaluation of AWM's Skills interventions, top up study, September 2010

Your Advantage West Midlands contact

Please contact the switchboard on 0121 380 3500 for assistance