After three decades of operating as a successful independent agency, Qa Research has joined EMB Group.

EMB Group provides a range of professional services designed to drive meaningful change through business information and advice,  grant and transaction processing, and research and insight services.  This latest acquisition increases the number of people working in the research division of the business to over 60.

For Qa, the sale represented an opportunity to become part of a larger group of companies and tap into a sophisticated infrastructure, whilst continuing to operate as a stand-alone business under the well-respected Qa Research brand, retaining the current team of experts.

Richard Bryan Managing Director of Qa said “Over the past few years, Qa has been growing steadily and we wanted to find a partner with the right systems and culture to underpin this growth.  As a business that is already engaged with many of our sectors and which understands how research agencies operate, EMB Group is a great fit for us.  We’re excited to be part of the Group and working alongside the other research teams.”

Danielle Gillett CEO of EMB Group said “ Since entering the research market in early 2023, we have been steadily increasing our capability and the sectors we cover. Through their wide range of qualitative, quantitative and data collection services, Qa bring a new dimension to our offer, as well as strengthening our existing research and insight expertise and we’re delighted to welcome them to the Group.”

Qa Research will retain its name, continue to operate in York and be led by the existing senior management team. It will sit alongside EMB’s other research agencies, Blue Marble Research and Pye Tait Consulting.

If you have any questions about Qa joining EMB Group contact richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk

Holding On To Home focuses on the experiences of tenants receiving Universal Credit or Housing Benefit.

It pays particular attention to identifying the causes of rent arrears, as this is the main reason why tenancies fail.

There is a lack of research in this area, and the problem is getting worse. Tenants are finding it increasingly difficult to pay their rent as new drivers of rents arrears emerge, and existing ones ‘play-out’ differently.

Research will explore the behaviours of tenants and landlords and provide evidence-based guidance which will improve landlords’ tenancy sustainment policies and practices. The ultimate aim is to make it easier for tenants to pay their rent, and reduce the number of tenancies that fail.

The study is a collaboration between Sheffield Hallam University, where the core research team are based, Qa, the Chartered Institute of Housing,  HQN (Housing Quality Network), and Andrew Burdett Design.

Mixed-method research will include:

• a tenant survey
• in-depth interviews with tenants and ‘stakeholders’
• a tenant diary-keeping exercise
• conversation analysis of landlord/ tenant communications
• documentary/ secondary data analysis
• and rent account analysis.

A Tenant Steering Group will oversee all aspects of the research, which will also be guided by a Policy and Practice Advisory Group.

The study is funded by the Nuffield Foundation through the welfare domain of its Research, Development and Analysis Fund.

Helen Hardcastle is leading the Qa team carrying out a survey of the tenants.

Helen said: “Our surveys will give people a chance to have their voices heard at a time when many are experiencing increasing pressure associated with the cost of living.”

You can find out more about the project on the Holding On To Home website.

Photograph: Pedro Ramos on Unsplash

The Centre for Ageing Better said it is crucial that activity is embedded in health and social care systems to help people stay healthy as they get older.

In a major report, Keep On Moving, the charity examines the motivators and barriers to physical activity for those in mid to later life.

Research carried out for the project by the University of Bristol in partnership with Qa Research revealed why people wanted to stay active – and what stopped them doing more.

Staying independent for longer was a key motivator for many of our interviewees. However, confidence was cited as significant barrier. Some participants said they did not use leisure and gym facilities due to a lack of confidence, or a feeling that they were not aimed at people of their age, body size or shape.

This showed why it was so important that the fitness and leisure sector created an inclusive and welcoming environment for people of all ages, the Centre said.

The findings were particularly timely as the Covid pandemic led to unprecedented decreases in activity levels.

Mid-life is crucial for maintaining activity levels as it’s around this age that people start to develop long-term health conditions that need managing or preventing. 

Qa’s research was also used in a webinar which featured Derrick Evans, better known as Mr Motivator.

Amy McSweeney, Evidence Officer, Centre for Ageing Better said: “Increasing activity levels for those aged 50–70 is a vital part of ensuring that we can make the most of our longer lives.

“This research shows that everybody knows that being physically active is good for them but there remain real barriers to participation.

“Access to inclusive spaces are key if we are going to encourage more older adults to be physically active.”

Kay Silversides, Qa Research Manager, said: “This was a fascinating project to work on.

“We spoke to a wide range of people, including the very active, who had always been so, people who aspired to me more active but perhaps didn’t know where to start, and at the other extreme people who had never been active and couldn’t bear the thought of physical activity!

“It will be very interesting to see the messages and campaigns that develop from this research.”

Read the report

The Advanced Thinking in Qualitative Research Masterclass is being run by the Market Research Society in July.

This intensive, one-day training session is for both agency-side and client-side researchers who have a thorough grounding in qualitative research and want new routes to insight.

The masterclass features Qa Research MD Richard Bryan. He will explore inclusivity in research design – how to ensure people in vulnerable circumstances and/or are digitally excluded are included in qualitative research projects.

The training is hosted by Dr Rachel Lawes, of Lawes Consulting. The other speakers are Dr Nick Coates, Director, Customer Experience at C Space: Tom De Ruyck, Managing Partner & Head of Insight Activation at InSites Consulting; and Siamack Salari, founding contributor at Not Everyday Life.

• For more information about Qa’s work in qualitative research, contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director, at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 6320394

Photography: MRS ‘Advanced Thinking in Qualitative Research Masterclass’

And at a free event next week, four researchers will explore what their investigations into different aspects of health inequity have revealed.

Understanding Health Inequalities: research in practice is a seminar by Social Research Association North on Monday 14 December.

Among those taking part is Qa Research senior research executive Georgina Culliford. She will present her findings after working on project to close the health gap in Leeds.

The free online event takes place on Monday 14 December between 12.30pm and 2pm – book your place here.

Qa worked with NHS Leeds CCG as they created their Health Inequalities Framework to address the growing problem in the city.

In essence, the plan proposed investing more resources in the areas most in need, to quickly improve the residents’ health and wellbeing – helping to close the gap.

“We wanted to see how the Framework would land with the general public of Leeds – whether they would support dividing resources up unequally to improve the health of the most vulnerable in Leeds, even if it meant a reduction in their own services,” Georgina said.

At the seminar Georgina will join with Becky Barwick, Head of System Integration at NHS Leeds CCG, to talk about:

• why the research was needed
• how the work was carried out
• key takeaway findings
• and how the research helped launch the Framework.

Also at the seminar, David Leese of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation will talk about the impact of Covid-19 on poverty – and solutions going forward.

And Suzy Solley of Groundswell will talk on women, health and homelessness in London.

To learn more about the work by Qa Research within the health and social car sector, contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 632039

Photograph: Gary Butterfield on Unsplash

So far fifteen energy suppliers, serving nearly three quarters of the domestic market, have signed up to the voluntary commitments, which include:

• Appointing a board level ‘champion’ to take responsibility for meeting the Commitment and improving support to vulnerable households.
• Training front line call centre staff to help better identify vulnerable callers and assist them.  
• Providing a freephone number for customers in financial hardship where appropriate
• Seeking feedback from customers on whether billing communications are understandable and implementing improvements where necessary.

Qa Research undertook a wide range of in-depth interviews with customers in vulnerable circumstances to ensure the Commitment’s purpose and aims were clear and relevant to their needs.

Among the interviewees were people with long-term physical or mental health conditions, low household income, or were elderly and living alone.

They read through the Vulnerability Commitment, and commented on whether the language and layout was clear, the commitments were relevant to their situation, and how they would feel if their energy provider signed up to it.

Qa reported back to Energy UK, who used our findings to adapt the Commitment based on the views and needs of vulnerable customers.

Energy UK’s Deputy Chief Executive, Audrey Gallacher, said: “The Vulnerability Commitment is a result of our work with consumers and their representatives to better understand what help is needed.

“And the suppliers who have already signed up are sending an important message, which is that we want to go above and beyond existing measures and to continuously improve the quality of support to vulnerable households.”

Qa Research’s Georgina Culliford, who led the study said: “Qa has a long and distinguished track record of working with people in vulnerable circumstances to ensure their voices are heard.

“Teaming up with Energy UK on such an important project has been a very rewarding experience. The Vulnerability Commitment has the potential to make a real and lasting difference to many thousands of people.”

For more information about our work with the energy sector contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 632039

Photograph: jplenio on Pixabay

Our latest Business Barometer survey for UKinbound found that many businesses in the sector were facing making redundancies – and a substantial minority did not believe they would make it through the crisis.

But UKinbound says the study proves that viable, export earning, inbound tourism businesses would be saved from collapse, and highly skilled people could avoid redundancy, if the Government provided targeted support.

When the Chancellor announced details of the new Job Support Scheme (JSS) on 24^th September, our barometer showed that three in four inbound tourism businesses were planning to start making redundancies.

This figure dropped to under 50% when the more targeted JSS closed option, for businesses required to shut due to local lockdowns, was announced on 9^th October.  

However, 72% of tour operators and destination management companies will still need to make redundancies.

Tour operators and DMCs have been hardest hit by the pandemic as they are reliant on international visitors for business, can’t pivot to domestic – and were excluded from crucial support channels. 

In the Qa survey, 40% of respondents stated that their business will manage through the crisis – but this increased to 62% after the 9^th October announcement.

Yet only 37% of tour operators and DMCs stated they would be operational when business returns.

Confidence levels low

Confidence levels continue to be low. Only 17% of respondents say they are confident about business in the next 12 months, but this is a rise on the historic low of 11% recorded in April.

A range of reasons were given for this low confidence including

• the lack of clear policy from Government on travel corridors
• and no decisive move to testing pre-arrival rather than quarantine.

UKinbound says it will continue to lobby Government with the following asks:

• Creation of a ‘Tourism Resilience’ Fund to help businesses wholly reliant on international visitors to survive until the return of the market in Spring 2021
• Call on the Minister of Housing, Communities & Local Government guidance on rate relief and grants should be amended to include tour operators and DMCs
• Testing on arrival/ regional corridors to restore consumer confidence in travelling to the UK
• Extension of the enhanced JSS for lockdown areas totour operators andDMCs who have been prohibited from trading because of HMG impediments (e.g. lockdowns, quarantine etc).

Joss Croft, CEO, UKinbound said that the Qa Research shows that targeted Government support does work, “but the tourism industry is a diverse range of inter-related businesses that depend on each other for survival, and currently the UK’s 200 plus inbound tour operators and DMCs continue to be left out in the cold, struggling to survive.”

Inbound tourism is the UK’s third largest service export earner, with 40 million international visitors visited the UK in 2019, contributing £24 billion to the UK economy.

“We urgently need Government, specifically Treasury and the Minister of Housing, Communities & Local Government, to engage with the sector and provide clear targeted support for these businesses,” Joss said.

“There is a pent-up demand to visit Britain; these businesses must be helped to survive so that they can help play a key role in the UK’s economic recovery. We will be delivering a proposal for targeted support to Treasury soon.”

• For more information about our work with the tourism sector contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 632039
• Read more about our work with the tourism sector here

Photograph: Oskar Kadaksoo on Unsplash

Local authorities seek to gauge how businesses are impacted. Health providers investigate the mental health issues affecting those who are shielding. Educational institutions look to new ways to support teachers and pupils.

Research now plays a central role in helping to set a new baseline – both in identifying how behaviour and attitudes have had to change quickly, and to try to foresee how society expects to navigate a way forward.

At Qa we have had to adapt too. To help organisations gain insight from their customers and service users, we have applied digital approaches that have enabled research participants from all walks of life to provide their opinions on how they are dealing with these unprecedented times.

Here are some examples of the things we’ve been doing…

• City-based destination management organisation – visitor sentiment tracking using online surveying

• Multiple London councils – Covid-19 impact and confidence telephone surveying with businesses

• Electricity distribution network operator – Willingness To Pay research with businesses, residents, and vulnerable customers using online video tools for focus groups and in-depth interviews

• Northern clinical commissioning group – health inequalities qualitative research using online video tools in place of a face to face deliberative event

• Agricultural Government agency – strategic communication insight with farmers and growers using telephone and email approaches

• National educational institution – preparing educational assessments for the school term

We have also re-introduced face to face interviewing, initially by conducting visitor experience surveys at recently opened attractions as well as in city-based tourism destinations. Our interviewers all wear personal protective equipment to keep interviewees and themselves safe.

By adapting our approaches to gathering insight we have been able to ensure research is able to continue its vital role in helping society to find new ways forward.

• For more information, contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director, at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 632039

Photograph: Chris Montgomery / Unsplash

And yet good-quality research never been more needed.

That is why the Market Research Society (MRS) is holding a masterclass on deploying next-level research techniques in these unique circumstances.

Advanced Qualitative Methods During a Pandemic will take place online on Friday, 10 July.

And our own Richard Bryan is one of the key tutors. Qa Research’s MD will present on Learning From Social Research.

That is one of five areas covered by the course:

• Semiotics – with Dr Rachel Lawes
• Ethnography – with Siamack Salari
• Researching Tomorrow Today – Tom De Ryuck and Joeri Van den Bergh
• Learning from Social Research – Richard Bryan
• Getting Creative with Consumers – Dr Nick Coates.

The intensive one-day course will explore skills including semiotics, ethnography, discourse analysis and creativity work with consumers.

It is aimed at both agency-side and client-side researchers looking for new routes to insight. And the masterclass features content designed to help teams adapt to the pandemic.

Richard said: “I will be sharing some of our qualitative research techniques that have proven effective for a wide variety of clients and projects, as well as revealing ways to adapt your approach to maximise engagement while adhering to all the Covid safety restrictions.

“Thanks to the versatility of the MRS online platform, I will be able to interact with course attendees just like we would on a face-to-face course.”

Photograph: Jeshoots.com on Unsplash

Key questions they are asking include:

• How do we offer our products and deliver our services in this new reality?
• How do we communicate and promote our wears to those we serve?
• How do we conduct research and gain insight with our customers and service users?

To enable organisations to gain customer and service user feedback, Qa has adapted its research methodologies so that the public and businesses can provide their views in a safe and accessible way.

Since lockdown we have been fully operational for all methodologies that do not involve face to face contact such, as online surveying, telephone surveying, qualitative research recruitment and facilitation using the phone or digital engagement platforms.

Our staff and interviewers are successfully working from home and we have completed a range of projects since lockdown including:

• National tourism body: online survey of members all of which are UK tourism businesses, to understand the impact of the CV on business levels. Take a look at the results here
• London borough council: telephone survey of businesses in the borough to gauge the impact of the virus
• South eastern university: recruitment of UK general public for online focus groups and in-depth interviews focusing on woodlands and health and wellbeing
• Local Enterprise Partnership in the West Midlands: telephone survey and in-depth telephone interviews to understand triggers and barriers to workforce development in digital skills

We welcome hearing from you if you have a research requirement but need advice on safe but effective ways to engage your target audience.

This is a time where we can all learn together to adapt new engagement approaches to help re-build a better society for all.

• For more information, contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director, at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 632039

Photograph: Pexels on Pixabay

Our latest Business Barometer survey for UKinbound laid bare the damage inflicted on the industry by coronavirus and the lockdown.

One in three tourism businesses stated they will have to stop trading in the next six months, even with the current Government support in place. Just over a quarter (27%) of respondents said their business will survive the coronavirus crisis.

The survey also asked members about their business activity in Q1 2020. This revealed:

• 70% of respondents said bookings /visitor numbers /customer orders were down (by an average of 55%) compared to the same period last year
• 75% saw a decrease in yield, by an average of 56%
• just 11% of respondents said they were confident about the coming year – an all-time low.

‘No revenue until spring 2021’

After receiving the research, UKinbound said that the UK risks damaging and prolonging its economic recovery if the inbound tourism industry – worth nearly £23bn to the UK economy in 2018 – does not receive long term financial support alongside domestic and outbound tourism recovery plans.

UKinbound CEO Joss Croft said: “Over the past two months the Government has put in place vast financial support programmes which has been a lifeline for many tourism businesses (albeit some businesses are still falling through the gaps), but as we look to the recovery path and the lifting of domestic restrictions, it’s imperative that the needs of those businesses that rely wholly on international visitors aren’t forgotten.

“International travel is not likely to resume for many months and so we are most concerned about our tour operator and destination management company members as the majority will not be able to earn any revenue realistically until Spring 2021 at the earliest. 

“Inbound tourism generates almost £23 billion for the UK economy and we must do everything we can to safeguard this revenue stream.

“Furthermore, these businesses help to deliver on the Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda as they promote and then take tourists to destinations all over the UK generating valuable revenue for regional economies.”

• For more information about our work with the tourism sector contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 632039
• Read more about our work with the tourism sector here

Photograph: Artur Tumasjan on Unsplash

Qa Research is taking a range of steps to ensure that we provide business continuity during the CV crisis and can continue to serve the needs of our clients.

Our priority is to safeguard the health and well-being of our employees and our interviewers, as well as respondents and clients. During this difficult period, we will be following UK Government guidance and that provided by the MRS to ensure our processes and procedures align with the latest advice.

Specifically, we will be doing the following and we do not anticipate significant disruption to our operations at this stage;

• All employees have been instructed to work from home, where and when this is at all possible – home-working has been a part of our day-to-day processes for many years and we have a suite of technology to enable employees to do this, including remote access via VPN, calls via VOIP and secure laptops.
• We’re continuing with telephone surveying as planned using home-working for interviewers – on a case-by-case basis we will assess the appropriateness of contacting certain respondent types and discuss each individual project with clients.
• For both current and future projects, we’re assessing the existing methodologies and where required we’ll suggest alternative approaches (e.g. switching face-to-face to phone; switching to online platforms for focus groups).
• Employees have been told to only use Skype for Business for meetings or other such arrangements.

If you have any questions or would like any further detail about our procedures then please get in touch. You can do this by emailing info@qaresearch.co.uk or by calling 01904 632039

Photograph: rawpixel.com from PxHere

The impact of mass travel on the planet is regularly highlighted by environmental campaigners. And this is starting to have an effect on consumer behaviour.

According to JWT Intelligence’s The Future 100: 2020 report released this week, the year will see ten key trends unfold in travel.

Key among them are ‘biocontributive travel’ – working towards zero impact travel – and coupling luxury travel with environmental research expeditions.

One of the UK’s biggest tourism institutions, the National Trust, has pledged to change in the light of climate change. It is marking its 125th anniversary with a series of environmental pledges, including a commitment to become carbon net zero by 2030.

All around the world you can find thoughtful responses from travel destinations keen not only to mitigate damage but actually put something back, in what’s known as environmental gain. Here are four very different examples.

1. Gothenburg

Gothenburg is setting the bar high. The Swedish city has been named the world’s most sustainable destination by the Global Destination Sustainability Index. And it has since won the sustainability category in the European Smart Tourism Awards 2020. Nearly all of its hotels are environmentally certified, and its pioneering ‘event impact calculator’ forecasts potential environmental impacts and supports organisers to value events from an economic, social and environmental perspective.

2. Clayton Caravan Park

The park near St Andrews in Fife, Scotland, is always looking to improve the local environment. Staff have planted pollinator-friendly flowers, from grassland clover to nectar-bearing blooms in whisky barrels, encouraging butterflies and bees. And its management of a ten-acre woodland has also won praise – and an gold David Bellamy Conservation Award.

3. Bucuti Beach Resort

The Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort looks like something out of a dream holiday video, with its white sands and swaying palm trees. But it is more than a taste of Caribbean luxury. In 2019 it won the Climate Action Award at the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards thanks to a range of actions which made it the first Caribbean resort to become carbon neutral.

4. The Bulungula Lodge

This remarkable destination proves you don’t have to be at the high end of holiday luxury to go green. Found on the Wild Coast of South Africa, the backpackers lodge is sustainable in every way. Fully powered by the sun, the venue’s water comes from its own borehole and ‘the virtually odourless compost toilets are the most colourful in Africa’. More than that though, Bulungula is owned by the villagers – so it ‘sustains local culture and the planet’.

More on this topic

• How the UK’s National Parks are leading the way in environmental gain
• What my trip to Whitby revealed about Chinese tourism in the UK
• Our research helps uncover the risk to UK tourism industry from post-Brexit immigration proposals
• Key tourism trends to help attract Chinese tourists in 2019
• Tourism industry study reveals key lessons in attracting Chinese visitors
• Art, tech and experiences: 5 creative ways to attract visitors to the great outdoors
• These innovative marketing schemes helped to boost visitors to UK attractions
• Growth of visits from China helps boost UK tourism confidence

Photograph (top): Jonas Jacobsson on Unsplash

Photograph (bottom): Visit Scotland

The news stories can often be negative, given the detrimental effects of long-haul flights, and the impact thousands of visitors can have on a natural landscape.

In summer 2019 a Parliamentary committee launched an inquiry into the environmental costs of tourism, and how they might be ameliorated.

Some forward thinkers within the sector are going further however – and considering not just how to reduce the impact of tourism, but actually improve the landscapes they work in. Leading the way in ‘environmental gain’ are some of the UK National Parks. Here are four very different examples.

1. Putting back into the landscape

This European endorsement for The Sill, the Northumberland National Park visitor destination, was partly in recognition of its role in putting something back into this incredible landscape. The acclaim highlighted “the centre’s work to preserve the landscape, engaging people to learn more about their surroundings and prompting action in supporting its preservation”.

2. Boosting the butterflies

The consumer craziness of Black Friday has been turned on its head at the North York Moors National Park. It will benefit from £9,413 of funding to help protect rare butterflies in the park thanks to a Black Friday campaign by Forest Holidays and the UK National Parks.

3. Planting 5,000 trees

The urgent need to plant more trees even made it into the manifestos during the 2019 General Election. But South Downs National Park is ahead of the political parties, having launched an initiative to plant 5,000 trees across its acres.

4. Promoting green waterways

We hear a lot about the green move to electric powered cars. But what about transport on our waterways? Most boats are powered by fossil fuels, but the Broads National Park is encouraging a switch to unpowered, hybrid and electric vessels by giving owners a discount on their tolls.

More on this topic

• What my trip to Whitby revealed about Chinese tourism in the UK
• Our research helps uncover the risk to UK tourism industry from post-Brexit immigration proposals
• Key tourism trends to help attract Chinese tourists in 2019
• Tourism industry study reveals key lessons in attracting Chinese visitors
• Art, tech and experiences: 5 creative ways to attract visitors to the great outdoors
• These innovative marketing schemes helped to boost visitors to UK attractions
• Growth of visits from China helps boost UK tourism confidence

Photograph: Charlie Jackson on Flickr

Water companies are on the frontline when it comes to improving our environment. And over the three decades since being privatised, the industry has established an impressive track record.

As a research agency, Qa has worked with a wide range of water companies. We know from our research that issues such as river water quality and bathing water quality are important to customers – even though they pay towards these green initiatives through their annual bills.

In an article reflecting on the last 30 years, chief executive of Water UK Michael Roberts recalled how the River Mersey was one of the most polluted stretches of water in Europe 25 years ago.

Now it has come back to life and salmon and even otters can be seen living in its water and on its banks.

Similar stories can be told from other areas of the country. But as concerns over climate change grow, what are water companies doing now to invest in the environment?

Here are four examples.

Ten years to carbon zero

The water industry is the first industrial sector in the UK, and one of the first major sectors in the world, to commit to a carbon zero future by 2030. As an energy-intensive sector, the water sector directly contributes around five million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions each year. As well as the immediate impact of carbon reductions, the industry intends to share its learnings to help other major energy-using industries to deliver their own plans.

First carbon literacy training

Yorkshire Water is demonstrating a pioneering approach to tackling climate change. It has become the first company in the industry to run an accredited Carbon Literacy course. The course promotes an awareness of climate change, highlights the climate impacts of our everyday activities and encourages people to take action in their personal life and at work.

Global innovation platform

Already established as an industrial innovator, Northumbrian Water has now gone further by launching a global innovation platform. The company will post a series of challenges and open them up to solutions from around the world. For its first challenge, Northumbrian Water wants ideas on how can eliminate the use of plastic bottles when providing emergency water supplies to customers during an interruption.

Boosting river biodiversity

The European eel is now classed as critically endangered after a 95 per cent decline in population over the last 25 years. Now Anglian Water has completed a £3.6 million project to install anew eel screen at its site in Peterborough, part of a significant programme of works designed to help the species to thrive.

See also:

• A fun house and The Beatles: creative ways water companies hope to change customer behaviour
• How UK utility companies are supporting their most vulnerable customers
• Helping water customers who struggle with bills
• Three ways the water sector is changing the way it’s working
• Four ways water companies are helping customers to conserve supplies

Photograph: cmglee via Wikimedia

To qualify for the discounted bill, the payer must usually meet eligibility criteria based on a household income threshold.

Social tariffs are funded via a cross subsidy arrangement. Most customers pay a little more on their annual bill so that those in financial difficulty can receive the discount.

But how do the majority of bill payers feel about this? And are there ways to improve the way the cross subsidy is viewed?

Our research has revealed some interesting insights.

Attitudes to bills

Water customers are asked to pay typically around £5 a year, which helps thousands of customers in need of financial support.

And using cross subsidy to help those in more vulnerable circumstances is not unique to the water sector. Other examples include:

• Bus use – working age customers pay slightly more for tickets so that pensioners can receive free bus travel
• Home insurance – all customers pay a little more on their premiums so that those living in flood risk locations can get cover
• The Warm Home Discount allows energy customers to receive a reduced tariff
• Postage stamps – shorter, simpler deliveries help cover the cost of longer more complicated ones.

Qa Research has worked with a number of water companies to ascertain customer attitudes to bills and the cross subsidy process.

We have asked bill payers if they were aware of the system and how it made them feel. A good way to summarise the prevailing attitude is: “I’m happy to contribute more on my bills (water or otherwise) for those that genuinely need it.”

Customers supportive but cautious

Customers tend to be supportive of contributing more to support those in need, but often temper this with a clear warning to the water company to ensure that only those that genuinely need or deserve a discount actually receive one.

Our work suggests that another key challenge for water companies is how they communicate to general customers why they may be paying a little more on their bill.

And the way to overcome that challenge is to demonstrate the impact that social tariffs have on those that receive the support.

If water companies do that, their customers are much more likely to value their contribution, and the difference it is having on people in straitened circumstances.

See also:

• Helping water customers who struggle with bills
• How UK utility companies are supporting their most vulnerable customers
• Three ways the water sector is changing the way it’s working
• A fun house and The Beatles: creative ways water companies hope to change customer behaviour
• Four ways water companies are investing in the environment
• Unblocking Britain’s £90m sewer problem

Photograph: Kirsten-Marie-Ebbeson on Visboo

That is the striking conclusion of research we were involved in for UKinbound.

We supported research project leaders Canterbury Christ Church University to evaluate the tourist sector’s concerns about the UK’s immigration policy after we leave the European Union.

And together we uncovered widespread anxiety about its potential to damage the industry which contributes £145 billion (7.2% of UK GDP) to the UK economy.

Two thirds of tourism business feared that the reforms could lead to closures.

Unique pressures

Researchers from Qa conducted an online survey with members of multiple UK tourism bodies and associations including ABTA, UK Hospitality and UKinbound.

This helped to cast new light on the sector’s reliance on EU workers. Nearly one-third of businesses reported that EU workers made up more than half their workforce.

Considering the potential impact of a national skills-based immigration system on the sector, the survey showed that:

• 65% said that the proposals would impact negatively on their ability to continue to operate
• 71% believe that the proposals would impact negatively on their ability to expand
• 75% believe that the proposals would impact negatively on their ability to remain competitive.

Qa Research Managing Director Richard Bryan said: “Our work with UKinbound and Canterbury Christ Church University has revealed deep-seated concerns across the tourism sector about the ability of businesses to operate and expand under these proposals.

“It demonstrates how Brexit places unique and significant pressures on the UK tourist industry.”

Informing a response

The survey results will help the tourism and hospitality sector to respond to consultations about future immigration policy when the UK leaves the European Union and free movement ends.

Joss Croft, Chief Executive of UKinbound commented: “This timely research shows that the Government must listen to the tourism industry before committing to an immigration system that runs the risk of forcing businesses to close throughout the UK.”

And the research shows that the industry would be placed “in an extremely vulnerable position when faced with the end of free movement” says Dr Karen Thomas, Director of the Tourism and Events Hub, Canterbury Christ Church University.

“EU workers constitute a vital labour pool for tourism and hospitality businesses,” she said. “Our research demonstrates that national reporting of the reliance of the sector on EU nationals masks the realities of many tourism and hospitality businesses in terms of the scale of reliance, and the significant variations in sub-sectoral, occupational and regional experiences.”

Photograph: Kai Pilger on Unsplash

But there was a serious point behind the Unblock Against The Clock attraction. The brainchild of Yorkshire Water, the game taught people of all ages about the ‘unflushables’ which cause sewer blockages – and cost millions of pounds to clear.

Created inside two stacked portable buildings, Unblock Against The Clock was installed in Yorkshire cities where there had been a particularly bad sewer blocking problem, like Huddersfield and Bradford.

In the timed challenge participants had to solve clues and find the potential blockages – from wet wipes to cooking oil.

Then they took a slide into the ‘sewer’ to leave the fun house and find out their time.

“We are trying to educate customers on what the known blockers are of our sewer network, what potentially might cause blockages, pollution incidents, plastics polluting the ocean and internal sewer flooding,” explained a Yorkshire Water spokesman.

We’ve been working with Yorkshire Water to evaluate the outcomes of this innovative approach and will soon be feeding back how successful the campaign has been.

Other innovations

Yorkshire Water’s fun house is only one example of the innovative ways water companies are using to educate companies about the fatberg nightmare – some of which will no doubt be discussed at the MRS Utilities Market Research conference on 3 October 2019.

Northumbrian Water is one of the utility firms throwing its weight behind the world’s first sewer blockage awareness month – Unblocktober.

They are highlighting the problem with a list of the weirdest things flushed into Northumbrian’s sewer network. This included a full Saturday night outfit including a men′s shirt, pair of jeans and socks which were found to be blocking a sewage pumping station in Durham.

Thames Water has celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Abbey Road album with a specially-designed manhole cover depicting the Beatles on the zebra crossing.

They hope the new look “sparks more conversations about what happens next to London’s waste, and serves as a reminder that only the three Ps – poo, pee and toilet paper – should end up in our vast network of underground sewers”.

And over at Severn Trent, they invited in ITV’s cameras for the summer series Sewer Men.

The two-part documentary got down and dirty with waste water workers as they unblocked toilets and drains, and went waist-deep in sewers clogged with wet wipes and fat.

Did it work? Well, one viewer tweeted:

Really makes you think about what you’re tipping down the loo or sink 😳 gonna be so much more mindful now #sewermen

— Joanne (@jo_Emma) July 25, 2019

See also:

• How UK utility companies are supporting their most vulnerable customers
• Helping water customers who struggle with bills
• Three ways the water sector is changing the way it’s working
• Four ways water companies are helping customers to conserve supplies

In a recent speech, Health Secretary Matt Hancock outlined his vision of the opportunities and challenges ahead.

“I believe the 2020s is going to herald a fundamental shift in how we think of health, especially public health: proactive, predictive, personalised prevention – that’s the future of public health,” he said.

Such ‘personalised prevention’ means “we must harness the predictive power of genomics, and the data-crunching power of AI so we can get to people before they have a problem, so we can prevent bad luck or bad choices leading to bad outcomes”.

So how might cutting-edge tech and the data it can harness transform NHS care?

By tailoring health checks to the patient

In this article for Digital Health, Owen Hughes reports that the Department of Health is exploring how analytics and data-driven technologies can deliver personalised health advice to patients. The aim is to see how ‘tailored programmes that take age, genetics and socioeconomic factors into account can more effectively prevent disease’.

By creating new Digital Health leaders

This four-year £127m initiative will fund 23 PhD programmes, and promote positive research environments while actively addressing issues like student mental health and good research practice. It is a “drive towards creating a new research culture and training the health data scientists of the future”.

By mapping our DNA

Genomic technology could have the potential to lead to quicker diagnosis and tailored treatment says health minister Baroness Nicola Blackwood. A project to sequence 500,000 whole genomes from UK Biobank will create ‘a vast repository of data for researchers and scientists to analyse, interpret and discover’. And that comes after a project last year demonstrated the benefit of genomics for healthcare, with half of cancer patients seeing a change to their treatment and up to 60% of rare disease patients receiving a diagnosis for the first time.

By harnessing the power of Google

In his article for HSJ, Google Health’s Michael Macdonnell revealed how DeepMind Health is joining his organisation to power the artificial intelligence revolution – and the potential benefits of the partnership for the NHS. ‘By drawing on Google’s global expertise and resources, we can more quickly translate groundbreaking research into tools and technologies that can save lives,’ he wrote.

By developing wearable tech

From Sleepio, a digital sleep improvement programme, to Intellin, which aims to provide support for people with diabetes, there are a host of innovative health care apps under development. In combination with wearable tech, they can help with early diagnosis and intervention, as well as collect anonymous patient data which could inform future NHS policy.

More on this topic

• Making prevention a priority: How healthy living and early detection are now at the heart of NHS strategy
• Digital technology can make a real different to adult social care. Here’s how
• Five workplace schemes that are addressing the mental health of their staff
• These new models of care are helping to keep older people healthy
• Using technology to help alleviate loneliness among older people

Photograph: Louis Reed on Unsplash

That’s the excellent combination on offer at the Rural Tourism Conference which takes place from 5.30pm on Wednesday, 16 October 2019.

Qa Research managing director Richard Bryan will be giving a presentation at the event, run by the Tourism Society at the magnificent Ripley Castle near Harrogate.

Richard said: “I am going to be sharing some of our insights from conducting research with tourism businesses in the North York Moors National Park relating to outcomes from a Coastal Communities Fund project.

“Some of the challenges and opportunities for rural tourism businesses are quite distinct from those faced by their urban counterpoints – a theme which will, I’m sure, be reflected by the other expert speakers at the event.”

This is the full line-up of presentations:

• Julie Barker – Head of Visitor Services, The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority – Dark Skies, Nature Tourism, Local Food – Getting the best from the Special Qualities of our protected areas
• Jim Richards – Director, Rural and Business Specialists Limited – Funding for Leisure and Lifestyle business, holiday cottages/complexes, camping, glamping, leisure and outdoor pursuits
• Sally Walker – RIBA Conservation Accredited Architect, Native Chartered Architects – Conservation Counts – How good design contributes to rural tourism business success
• Richard Bryan – Managing Director, Qa Research – Lessons from rural visitor research.

The evening will end with a buffet supper and wine plus the opportunity to view Ripley Castle.

Ahead of our presentation we’ve been researching some great examples of rural tourism success. Here are four initiatives which showcase what can be achieved.

Four great examples

1. Build on a brand

The Yorkshire Dales is known for its beautiful landscape, farming and fresh produce. So why not combine all three in a fun family day out? This cheese fest is back for its third year at the Wensleydale Creamery, and over the nine days will promote the ‘special qualities of the Yorkshire Dales’.

2. Turn isolation into an asset

Any urbanite knows the extraordinary impact of seeing the country night sky littered with stars, which aren’t visible in our light-polluted cities. Northumberland National Park has been at the forefront of the Dark Skies celebration – and it has proved so successful that it plans to turn Walltown Country Park into a year-round visitor facility.

3. Work with partners

Partnership working is a key way to boost rural tourism – and this is a superb example. Norfolk has joined a pan-European initiative to encourage ‘green pilgrimages’ – which maximise the history of the area, and encourage visitors to make the most of the county’s 1,200 miles of trails for cycling and walking.

4. Diversify

It began with a couple of beehives. But this year Quince Honey Farm in Norfolk developed into a fully-fledged family visitor attraction, with plans to add a beekeeping museum next. Still a working farm, this is a great example of how to create a tourism draw from an existing business.

More on this topic

• After ‘Super Sunday’, what impact does sport have on UK tourism?
• Key tourism trends to help attract Chinese tourists in 2019
• Tourism industry study reveals key lessons in attracting Chinese visitors
• Art, tech and experiences: 5 creative ways to attract visitors to the great outdoors
• These innovative marketing schemes helped to boost visitors to UK attractions
• Growth of visits from China helps boost UK tourism confidence

Photograph: Mylo Kaye on Unsplash

That’s the theme of a special event being held in Edinburgh on 10 September.

Research for charities – Making a Difference is a session run by the Esomar Foundation, and managing director of Qa Research Richard Bryan is one of the facilitators.

The free event will explore how research has been used to improve the work of NGOs committed to creating positive social change.

Richard said: “We have been working with charities and NGOs for many years and know what a key role research can play in their work.

“It provides them with focused insights into the needs of those they are aiming support, helps them to plan effective campaigns and interventions, and offers invaluable feedback on work already undertaken.

“Carefully planned and targeted research helps charities to help others and bring about major social improvements.”

Bring your questions

At the event there will be a panel session and Q&A into what research can do and how you can do it cheaply and effectively.

That will be followed by small interactive group sessions, involving expert researchers, experienced NGOs and delegates.

These will see participants challenge each other, brainstorm, and find solutions to your issues.

The ESOMAR Foundation said:

“We’re convinced that every not-for-profit organisation can benefit from research, can do their job better by understanding the people they’re trying to help more deeply, and that research really can make a difference for everyone.

“To convince you we’d like to invite you to a complimentary session at the ESOMAR Congress in Edinburgh, dedicated to this conviction of ours.

“You bring your issues, scepticism, doubts and questions, and we’ll show you how research could help you do your work better.”

So much so that in July 2019 the government published a Prevention Green Paper, which labelled the 2020s as the decade of “proactive, predictive, and personalised prevention”.

It shifts the emphasis from life span to ‘health span’. Instead of focusing on life expectancy, it looks at boosting amount of time people enjoy good health.

The cornerstones of the new health strategy, part of the NHS Long Term Plan, are:

• targeted support
• tailored lifestyle advice
• personalised care
• greater protection against future threats.

So how do we put prevention at the heart of health care? Here are some examples of the innovations in approach and treatment that are answering that question.

Everyone has to buy in

In this blog post, chief executive of Public Health England Duncan Selbie argues that prevention must be at the forefront of all national and local policies and is “everyone’s responsibility, from the NHS to employers, schools, local authorities and individuals”.

Targeted early intervention is working

Several London boroughs are investing in expert special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) practitioners who help schools maintain children with more challenging needs in a mainstream setting. And it turns out to be money well spent, as research shows that this intervention has prevented “needs escalating and lead to better outcomes for children and young people”.

AI is reaping results

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Artificial intelligence has a growing role in health care, particularly for early detection. For example a mobile medical assistant called Streams at the Free London NHS Foundation Trust spots patient deterioration and can communicate instantly with clinical teams. It has delivered some impressive outcomes.

Changing the landscape

Planners and architects are now actively working on ways to make cities happier and healthier, and design out isolation – and their early results are promising.

Stopping self harm

Phone app BlueIce is prescribed to young people to help them manage extreme anxiety and other negative emotions. After just 12 weeks, three quarters of the young people assessed had either stopped or reduced their self-harming as a result of the app.

Photograph: Michelle Raponi on Pixabay

Dubbed ‘Super Sunday’, it certainly lived up to the billing. Sunday, 14 July, 2019 saw the men’s final at Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix and the Cricket World Cup Final at Lord’s all deliver amazing thrills and twists.

Lewis Hamilton won at Silverstone, Novak Djokovic triumphed in an epic five-setter on Centre Court – and one of the great sporting fixtures of all time saw England pick up their first World Cup after a dramatic ‘Super Over’ after they tied with New Zealand.

These events are great for English sports fans – and for beer sales – but what impact do they have on tourism businesses?

Here are eight facts about tourism and sport in the UK which show the scale and potential of the industry.

 
More on this topic

• Key tourism trends to help attract Chinese tourists in 2019
• Tourism industry study reveals key lessons in attracting Chinese visitors
• Art, tech and experiences: 5 creative ways to attract visitors to the great outdoors
• These innovative marketing schemes helped to boost visitors to UK attractions
• Growth of visits from China helps boost UK tourism confidence
• These four immersive experiences are taking UK visitor attractions in new directions

For more information about our work with the tourism sector contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 632039

Now, though, health tech has a new champion – the Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock. And in summer 2019 we began to see some tangible outcomes of his new emphasis on cutting edge solutions, a key part of the NHS Long Term Plan.

Here’s how a new digitally-enhanced approach to social care can make instant and lasting improvements to both users and the service as a whole.

Seamless health care

Two new tech platforms were introduced within days of one another. On July 4, NHSX officially opened for business.

The new technology unit for the NHS aims to reduce the burden on staff, improve access to services for service users, and boost productivity across the health and social care sector.

And the previous week saw the launch of the the Digital Social Care website.

Billed as a “dedicated space to provide advice and support to the adult social care sector on technology and data protection”, the people behind the project have high hopes for what it can enable. They said:

From young adults to old age

Transitional care
Young adults who are leaving the social care system need all the support they can get.

Effectively the state is no longer their corporate parent once they turn 18, leaving them to cope with all the challenges of adulthood overnight.

So it is not surprising that young people from a care background are more likely to suffer from mental health issues.

Now though a new app developed by NGO Social Finance to give individuals more of a voice in decisions made about their future is currently being piloted by seven local authorities. Its creators say:

Robot companions
How do we help elderly people to stay living independently in their own home?

There are a range of tech solutions to this question explored in this article in the Telegraph.

Among them: robots. As well as undertaking household tasks like cleaning, robots can act as a companion, reading a book or talking to you.

British care homes have trialled Pepper, a ‘carebot’ created by Japanese engineers, to see if it can reduce the workload of health care staff and encourage owners to wash, dress, eat and drink.

Smart city
Newcastle has been named the Smart City of the Year.

Among its many innovations is an adult social care chat bot, an in-house development that is designed to provide people with adult care information 365 days a year.

Jennifer Hartley, Director, Invest Newcastle said:

‘Alexa, did I take my medication?’
To end where we started with digital cheerleader and Health Secretary Matt Hancock, he outlined some of the ways technology might make a positive impact in social care in a speech to the Local Government Association.

These included using the Amazon smart speaker Alexa to prompt the elderly and other vulnerable people to take their medication.

And he also described audio monitoring systems in care homes as “life-saving” technology.

More on this topic

• Five workplace schemes that are addressing the mental health of their staff
• These new models of care are helping to keep older people healthy
• Using technology to help alleviate loneliness among older people
• Four very different ways non-drug treatments are boosting mental health
• ‘Everything’s just stressing you’ – why our young people urgently need better mental health support

For more information about our social care research contact Richard Bryan, Managing Director at richard.bryan@qaresearch.co.uk and 01904 632039

These two statistics alone suggest the number of potentially vulnerable people in the UK is vast. And all of them need heating, power and water.

So how do utility companies ensure that they help their most vulnerable customers?

It’s a challenge with many possible solutions, and the industry has launched a number of innovative schemes.

Energy Commission

The energy sector has been leading the way. In 2018 Energy UK created The Commission for Customers in Vulnerable Circumstances.

Independently chaired by Lord Whitty, with five expert commissioners from a wide range of backgrounds, its report is the culmination of over a year of evidence gathering and engagement with various stakeholders.

They identified seven key themes, including:

• a comprehensive regulatory framework with timely support and protection
• easy identification of needs and access to support from suppliers
• a range of ways for customers to communicate with their supplier
• and effective links between suppliers and support organisations.

Among the commission’s recommendations is the creation of a new code of conduct, which Energy UK is committed to introducing.

Police partnership

An existing pillar of support for vulnerable customers is the priority services register.

This is a list people who need extra services such as personalised communication or bottled water delivered to their home during a supply interruption.

But how do you identify customers who should be on that register?

Thames Water has teamed up with community police officers to reach more vulnerable customers.

And it is working. Chief Superintendent Shaun Virtue said: “We’re really pleased with how this has gone so far and it is having a real impact.”

Innovative thinking

Technology is also being used as a way to help these customers. At the Utility Week Consumer Vulnerability Conference, delegates learned about the safe entry door bell pioneered by United Utilities.

It was described by one person at the conference as a “simple yet innovative idea to keep people safe from bogus callers in their own homes”.

Another innovation saw Northumbrian Water triumph in the Customer Initiative of the Year category at the Water Industry Awards.

Its ‘Water Without Worry’ campaign won after judges heard how it brings together the company’s affordability and priority services initiatives to ensure that customers are able to access the services they need.

This ranges from affordability of water bills and preventing bogus callers to support for those with special medical needs, access challenges and those in crisis or suffering bereavement.

See also:

• Four ways water companies are investing in the environment
• Helping water customers who struggle with bills
• Three ways the water sector is changing the way it’s working
• Four ways water companies are helping customers to conserve supplies
• Four imaginative ways to keep Britain’s water network flowing