Sia Partners with Cadent Gas

Published On - 25th February 2019 Consulting Case Studies, Consulting in the Private Sector

In early 2018, Sia Partners designed and built an industry-first ‘Social Return on Investment’ (SROI) Measurement Methodology for Cadent. This SROI tool allows Cadent to simply and consistently analyse and justify their efforts, based on a combination of internal financial measures, and significantly, open-source social proxies.

This analysis ensures that Cadent can now confidently trial, scale or stop services, initiatives or partnerships, whilst justifying their decision-making process to the regulator (Ofgem).
The team at Sia Partners (alongside the Stakeholder Engagement team within Cadent) identified and managed competing functional requirements, including:

  • Simplicity in both use and output;
  • A level of detail that promotes confidence in decision-making, both ex-ante internally and ex-post for the regulator;
  • A focus on clear multi-year financial measurements; and
  • A consistent approach to quantifying qualitative factors.

In addition to these principles, Sia Partners ensured the SROI tool was built in line with the UK Cabinet Office’s methodology for appraisal and evaluation, and best practice identified through a wider industry benchmark.

With our economic expertise, deep understanding of Cadent’s regulatory obligations, and experience delivering business change, we were able to deliver a consistent methodology and custom-built SROI tool for analysing and prioritising socially focused initiatives. This achievement places Cadent at the forefront of the industry through the introduction of a data-driven approach to decision-making that ensures significant societal benefits are provided at moderate costs.

We are confident the SROI methodology we have developed will evolve into an industry benchmark for such measurement. In an environment where evidence-based analysis is increasingly required for the justification of expenditure and programmes, the SROI tool will provide the framework to assist such analysis.

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