A Presentation Presented to the Directors at BIS on the History, Evolution & Impact of the Business Performance Index

1. Business Link Northwest’s Business Performance Index:
History, Design & Development, Implementation and Impact
Neil Geoghegan, Corporate Resources Director, Business Link Northwest
The Business Performance Index – An
Ged Mirfin, Chief Data Officer, Business Link Northwest
Explanation
Landes Land, Lead Developer, BPI Data Warehouse, Business Link Northwest

2. Agenda
1. I’ll Show You Mine…If You Show Me
Yours
2. It’s Not What You Do…It’s The Way
That You Do It – And That’s What
Gets Results!
3. How the Northwest Was Won
4. London Calling - What Now & Where
Next

3. -I’ll show you mine…if
you show me yours

4. “60% of Public Sector
Organisations around the
world think that inaccurate
and incomplete data costs
them money in terms of
wasted resources, lost
productivity and/or wasted
marketing spend”
“The impact poor data management has on your
organisation”
QAS Experian
International Research White Paper
September 2005

5. BLNW Business Timeline
BLNW Opens
Doors – 01st Apr
2007
CRM 3 – Powerful Engine.
Huge Development
Installation
Microsoft CRM 3
Potential. Vanilla Version No
May to Jul 2007 Customisation.

6. BLNW Business Timeline
BLNW Opens
Doors – 01st Apr
2007
Data Import into CRM -
manually fills the
system with very poor
quality & aged data
from legacy systems.
Installation Manual Import, De-
Microsoft CRM 3 Duping & Merging of
May to Jul 2007 Legacy Data from Sub-
Regional Business Links
Jul to Sept 2007

7. Merging of Sub-Regional Business Link Data

8. Merging of Sub-Regional Business Link Data
-BL Manchester
Universe of Company
Data
-600k

9. BLNW Business Timeline
“Cleansing”, Further
BLNW Opens De-duping &
Doors – 01st Apr Appending of Third
2007 Party data - Oct to Dec
2007
Poor implemented “Data
Cleanse” project results in the
overwriting of current data with
Installation Manual Import, De-
Microsoft CRM 3 Duping & Merging of
even older data affecting CRM
May to Jul 2007 Legacy Data from Sub- system and hampering
Regional Business Links operational performance
Jul to Sept 2007

10. Manual Data Merging & De-Duplication….Substantially
reduced the Size of the Universe!
-Confidence
in Data
-BL Northwest Quality was
Universe of Low!
Company Data
600k
350k
Merge and De-Dupe
600k Records 350k Records

11. “Data Cleanse” by Third Party Results in Overwriting of CRM
Data with Aged Out-of-Date Data:
CRAP it wasn’t! – Universe Shrinks Further
350k
C = Consistent A = Accurate
R = Recent -BL Northwest P = Populated
Universe of
Company Data
130k
CRAP IN however results in
CRAP OUT

12. “Business users are rightly
intolerant of new systems
that are delivered filled with
rubbish data and may even
fail to adopt the system. It’s
like investing in a new sports
car, filling it with the oil and
fuel drained from your old
vehicle, and then wondering
why it fails to perform as it
did on the test drive.”
(Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers)

13. The Quality Scores for our “Best” Data
(Intensive Assist) was not high!
• 57.04% of Company Names
and Addresses were Incorrect.
• Lower than Average Address
Verification 47.03% - Average
for “Clean Data” c.65%.
• Premise Level Verification
means Business Addresses
could not be absolutely verified
– we knew the building, site or
business park but not their
exact location.
• We could not be sure our
Direct Mail was reaching its
intended audience – high
volumes of returned mail.

14. Quality Barometer
• Clean Data from Experian’s Data Barometer
National Business Database Data Accuracy
Population Rate of Business Critical
Data
dramatically improved the
Traffic
Population Rate and Quality % Light Comment % Traffic Light Comment
of the record set 100% 100%
95% 95%
• Massively reduced no. of
Impact Appending Experian Data
90% 90%
unknowns improved BLNW’s
Impact Appending Experian Data
85% 85%
ability to report on a much 80% 80%
larger data population 75% 75%
70% 70%
• Experian’s NBD allowed 65% 65%
BLNW to contextualise 60% 60%
internal performance against 55% 55%
all businesses within NW 50% 50%
Region 45% 45%
40% 40%
• This allowed BLNW to
Existing Data
35% 35%
accurately measure Business
Existing Data
30% 30%
performance across the
25% 25%
region and highlight issues &
20% 20%
concerns or areas of regional
15% 15%
best practice.
5% 5%

15. BLNW Business Timeline
“Cleansing”, Further Building of Data
De-duping &
BLNW Opens
Appending of Third Warehouse to separate
Doors – 01st Apr
2007 Party data - Oct to and report on new data
Dec 2007
delivers highly functional
web accessed granular
reporting capability
Installation Manual Import, De- Commenced
Microsoft CRM 3 Duping & Merging of building Data
May to Jul 2007 Legacy Data from Sub- Warehouse to
Regional Business Links separate New
Jul to Sept 2007 from Legacy
Data Jan 2008

16. Agenda
It’s Not What You
Do…It’s The Way
That You Do It –
And That’s What
Gets Results!

17. BLNW Business Timeline
“Cleansing”, Further Appointment of Experian as Data
De-duping & Management Services Supplier.
Appending of Third Detailed Health-Check and Profiling
Party data - Oct to of Intensive Assist Data - Feb 2008
Dec 2007
Lack of clean up-to-date
prospect marketing data
Manual Import, De- Commenced begins to impact on BLNW’s
Duping & Merging of building Data ability to meet penetration
Legacy Data from Sub- Warehouse to targets: Initial Solution
Regional Business Links separate New
Jul to Sept 2007 from Legacy favoured: Creation of Pool
Data Jan 2008 “Look-A-Like” Prospect Data
that would convert into
Intensive Assists

18. Example of Initial Profiling
Digital & Creative
Sector

19. No. of Employees : Majority Businesses in Sector Has
Less than 5 Employees
• Penetration rate Very Small Client File North West
Businesses Lowest of All
Business Band Sizes –
22,865 Businesses to Target
Employees Northwest Z-
• in Business # % Penetration # % INDEX Score
BLNW well ahead of the
curve for North West as a
whole with SMEs (6 to 49
Employees). 37.35% as A : 1 to 5 477 47.13% 2.04% 23339 49.68% 95 -1.61
against 21.61% for NW as a
whole
B : 6 to 10 220 21.74% 4.03% 5464 11.63% 187 7.75
• Penetration Rate Low at
3.72% however C : 11 to 19 85 8.40% 3.39% 2504 5.33% 158 3.50
• Very few Medium & Large
Businesses in this Sector – D : 20 to 49 73 7.21% 3.34% 2186 4.65% 155 3.13
1,401. BLNW is well behind
curve with Businesses of E : 50 to 99 15 1.48% 2.33% 643 1.37% 108 0.30
this size especially Large
Businesses where we have F : 100 to
seen only 3 out of 423 199 8 0.79% 2.39% 335 0.71% 111 0.28
• Many Unclassified
G : 200+ 3 0.30% 0.71% 423 0.90% 33 -3.42
Businesses (Web Designers
& Consultants).
U:
• What do these look like? Unclassified 131 12.94% 1.08% 12084 25.72% 50 -11.89
What do there Yell and
Thomson profiles tell us
about these Businesses?
Total 1012 100.00% 2.15% 46978 100.00%

20. Sic Sector Analysis
Client File North West
Northwest
Penetratio Z-
SIC Section # % n # % INDEX Score
<NULL> 111 10.97% 22.11% 502 1.07% 1026 10.07
A: Agriculture, Hunting and Forestry 1 0.10% 7.69% 13 0.03% 357 0.72
B: Fishing 0 0.00% N/K 0 0.00% - -
C: Mining and Quarrying 0 0.00% 0.00% 10 0.02% 0 -3.16
D: Manufacturing 125 12.35% 2.45% 5092 10.84% 114 1.45
E: Electricity, Gas and Water Supply 0 0.00% 0.00% 5 0.01% 0 -2.24
F: Construction 9 0.89% 1.66% 542 1.15% 77 -0.88
G: Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repairs 37 3.66% 6.47% 572 1.22% 300 4.12
H: Hotels and Restaurants 2 0.20% 5.26% 38 0.08% 244 0.83
I: Transport, Storage and Communication 17 1.68% 1.00% 1702 3.62% 46 -4.70
J: Financial Intermediation 1 0.10% 6.25% 16 0.03% 290 0.65
K: Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities 572 56.52% 2.20% 25954 55.25% 102 0.81
L: Public Administration, Defence and Compulsory Social Security 0 0.00% 0.00% 16 0.03% 0 -4.00
M: Education 10 0.99% 18.87% 53 0.11% 876 2.81
N: Health and Social Work 2 0.20% 0.08% 2368 5.04% 4 -28.11
O: Other Community, Social and Personal Service Activities 125 12.35% 1.24% 10073 21.44% 58 -8.65
P: Private Households with Employed Persons 0 0.00% 0.00% 20 0.04% 0 -4.47
Q: Extra-Territorial Organisations and Bodies 0 0.00% 0.00% 2 0.00% 0 -1.41
100.00
Total 1012 % 2.15% 46978 100.00%

21. The Problem with SIC Codes
EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS DOCUMENT WHICH SUPPORTS THE FINAL REPORT OF
THE CEP (CREATIVE ECONOMY PROGRAMME) ISSUED BY DCMS.
MUCH OF THE CRITICISM SEEMS TO HAVE CONCENTRATED ON THE ESTIMATED ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES MAKE TO THE UK. THESE CRITICISMS FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES: THE DEFINITION
OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IS TOO WIDE OR TOO NARROW AND THEREFORE THE NUMBER IS TOO BIG OR TOO
SMALL; AND THE LACK OF OFFICIAL STANDARD STATISTICS FOR THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
IN PARTICULAR, PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN RAISED WITH THE IDENTIFICATION OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
WITHIN OFFICIAL CLASSIFICATIONS. OFFICIAL STATISTICS ARE DRAWN FROM ONS SURVEYS WHICH COVER
BUSINESSES THAT ARE REGISTERED FOR VAT AND DO NOT INCLUDE THOSE THAT ARE NOT REGISTERED
OR SMALL BUSINESS WHOSE TURNOVER IS BELOW THE VAT THRESHOLD. THIS IS PROBLEMATIC WHEN
TRYING TO IDENTIFY AND MEASURE THE ACTIVITY OF THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES BECAUSE MANY OF THE
INDUSTRIES ARE VERY SPECIFIC AND SMALL IN TERMS OF NUMBER OF BUSINESSES, TURNOVER AND
EMPLOYMENT…
THE BULLETIN USES NATIONAL STATISTICS SOURCES WHERE POSSIBLE – PRIMARILY THE ANNUAL
BUSINESS INQUIRY, THE INTER-DEPARTMENTAL BUSINESS REGISTER AND THE LABOUR FORCE
SURVEY….DEFINITIONS ARE BASED ON THE UK STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATIONS (SIC)…, HOWEVER
THEY DO NOT ACCURATELY REFLECT THE STRUCTURE OF THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES. AS SUCH IT IS
DIFFICULT TO CAPTURE THE FULL EXTENT OF… ACTIVITY.
THERE IS CONCERN THEREFORE THAT OFFICIAL STATISTICS ARE NOT TOTALLY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
WHOLE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES SECTOR. THE ONLY WAY TO OVERCOME THIS WOULD BE TO CARRY OUT A
SEPARATE SURVEY OF SMALL CREATIVE FIRMS AND INDIVIDUALS BUT THIS WOULD BE A HUGE
UNDERTAKING INVOLVING SIGNIFICANT COSTS AND POTENTIALLY PLACING A CONSIDERABLE BURDEN ON
THE FIRMS.

22. Turnover: Businesses operating in the Digital & Creative
Sector are primarily Small Turnover Businesses
• Two Thirds of Businesses operating in this RES Sector (65.07%) have a turnover of less than £2.5M
• BLNW scores well above average in working with Businesses with a turnover between £90K and
£2.5M – 3.5% penetration
• 5.30% penetration rate for Businesses in the £400K to £2.5M category – 1 in 20
• BLNW much less successful when it comes to working with high turnover Businesses in this sector
and Very Small Unincorporated Sole Trader/Partnership Businesses with Turnover Less £90K
• Is this a (Network) Access, Broker Skill-Set or Marketing Communications Issue
• What do we have to offer these Businesses, particularly the Really Small One & Two Man Bands and
more importantly what do they look like?
Client File North West
Northwest
Turnover # % Penetration # % INDEX Z-Score
1 : Unclassified 130 12.85% 0.86% 15084 32.11% 40 -17.94
2 : 1 to <90k 412 40.71% 2.27% 18118 38.57% 106 1.37
3 : 90k to <400k 246 24.31% 2.78% 8858 18.86% 129 4.01
4 : 400k to <1m 105 10.38% 4.40% 2389 5.09% 204 5.49
5 : 1m to <2.5m 85 8.40% 7.10% 1197 2.55% 330 6.69
6 : 2.5m to <5m 15 1.48% 3.14% 477 1.02% 146 1.22
7 : 5m to <10m 11 1.09% 3.54% 311 0.66% 164 1.30
8 : 10m to <40m 6 0.59% 1.97% 304 0.65% 92 -0.22
9 : 40m+ 2 0.20% 0.83% 240 0.51% 39 -2.18
Total 1012 100.00% 2.15% 46978 100.00%

23. SOHO Businesses – 15% of All Intensively
Assisted Digital & Creative Businesses
SoHo Total
No 1132 SoHo Businesses
Yes 194 15%
Grand Total 1326
• Very Different kind of
Businesses Brokers
typically used to dealing
with
No Yes
• Consultants and Graphic
Designers who work from
Home/Garden Shed/Back
Bedroom in large Nos.
• What advice can you give
them?
85%

24. Top Yell Classifications
YP Classification Code Total % YP Classification Code Total %
Blank 490 36.95% Computer Systems 9 0.68%
Printers & Lithographers 86 6.49% Management & Business Consultants 9 0.68%
Internet Web Design & Development 78 5.88% Photographers-Commercial & Industrial 9 0.68%
Designers-Advertising & Graphic 52 3.92% Sign Makers 9 0.68%
Computer Software Development 48 3.62% Design Consultants 8 0.60%
Computer Services 44 3.32% Newspapers & Magazines 8 0.60%
Marketing & Advertising Consultants 33 2.49% Promotional Items & Incentives 8 0.60%
Architects 27 2.04% Telecommunication Equipment 8 0.60%
Internet Services 27 2.04% Computer Networking & Cabling 6 0.45%
Advertising Agencies 21 1.58% Interior Designers 6 0.45%
Photographers-General 17 1.28% Arts Organisations 5 0.38%
Computer Consultancy 15 1.13% Document Management 5 0.38%
TV, Film & Video Production Services 15 1.13% Sound Equipment Installations 5 0.38%
Publishers & Publications 13 0.98% Theatrical Companies 5 0.38%
Computer Software Sales 12 0.90% Training Services 5 0.38%
Telecommunication Services 11 0.83% Architectural Services 4 0.30%
Art Dealers & Publishers 10 0.75% Charitable & Voluntary Organisations 4 0.30%

25. “Designers-Advertising &
Graphic”

26. BLNW Business Timeline
“Cleansing”, Further Appointment of Experian as Data
De-duping & Management Services Supplier.
Appending of Third Detailed Health-Check and Profiling
Party data - Oct to of Intensive Assist Data - Feb 2008
Dec 2007
Integrate CRM Data with NW
Segment of Experian NBD
Commenced giving access to detailed
building Data financial info, Yell, Thomson,
Warehouse to Commercial Mosaic allowing
separate New
from Legacy BLNW to scientifically segment
Data Jan 2008 data at a very granular level

27. The Gartner View
• Biggest contributory factor in “outright
failure” CRM is lack of process
ownership.
• The problem is nobody owns it. When
CRM cuts across different departments it
breaks down at the interface between
different departments. There's no
understanding of the end-to-end
process.
• No helicopter overview.
• Therefore no CRM “grand strategy”.

28. Data Stewardship
Creation of a formalised management
structure including systems,
processes and the establishment of
standards. Accountability for the
processing of data throughout the
business was designed to increase
operational effectiveness, promoting
“data” and its use into a highly valued
“strategic asset”

29. Who owned BLNW Data?
• Marketing
• Operations
• Brokers
• IT
• CRM Manager
• M. I. Team
• Business Improvement

30. Who had ultimate “ownership” of
BLNW Data?
• Everyone and No-One
• Everyone had responsibility for their
individual piece of the jig-saw
• Devolved Control of the Management of
Data was dispersed throughout the
Business
• This led to anarchical and fragmented
decision-making and ineffective quality
control mechanisms
• No one Individual or Team was in
charge

31. The Gartner View
“The challenge of poor data quality
presents a vicious circle. If
business users don’t trust the
existing data in a system, they
take less care themselves when
entering new information, which
only compounds the data quality
problem. With data being
recognised as an organisation’s
second most valuable asset, and
poor data quality losing
organisations up to a quarter of
their revenue, this is a topic that
cannot be ignored.”

32. Placing Data at the very heart of BLNW activities
Data Stewardship
Data Governance –Ensuring Data
Structures and Processes for
Quality, Data Acquisition &
Management & Storage of Data
Reporting
as a Strategic Asset
Data
Team
-Data Maintaining Data Integrity Data
Strategy & Measuring Data Quality TQM

33. Data Strategy
• Identifying ways to improve current data
• Searching the market for external data that can
further enrich current dataset
• Establishing a programme for managing
suppliers.
• Monitor the quality of this data.
• Implementing effective control procedures.
• Apply change management processes.
• Measure the impact of data.
• Establish review processes.

34. Issues Encountered At BLNW
-Sufficient Power Vested in Project -Gaining Agreement for
Issues Encountered At O2
Team to Ensure Delivery of Project
Form a powerful team with a real remit
Information Ownership
to make the change happen
-Proving the Business Case and Obtaining
Funding
-Focus at Executive Level
-Wider Organisation Buy In
-Sheer Volume removal of accepted norms
and Complexity of
Data
-Recruitment of
Experienced Specialist
-Agreement on Change in Contractor “Developer”
Organisational Structure and Resource
Process and Reallocation to
Corporate Resources Directorate
-Addressing Director Silo Culture

35. Communicating the Benefits of Data as a
Corporate Asset – the Advocacy
Approach
“Selling the vision for data for the
business going forward.”
• Evangelical approach to the
adoption of Data internally by
publicising Data Issues
• Developing effective working
relationships with key data users
and the ICT team to develop
performance management
solutions.
• Actively pursue collaborative and
cohesive working relationships with
all internal personnel.

36. -Business Link North West Strategy statement
2008/09.
• Objective 3 of 5
• “To be recognised as the leader on regional business
intelligence”
• Objective 5 of 5
• “To play a vital role in informing business support
policy making”

37. History of the BPI

38. We incorporated Business Link universe and
Experian’s National Business Database into the BPI

39. We incorporated Business Link universe and
Experian’s National Business Database into the BPI
Section of database
unique to Business
Link – Lifestyle and
Grey economy -Consolidates North
businesses
West Business
-19k -111k Universe
-406k

40. We incorporated Business Link universe and
Experian’s National Business Database into the BPI
-Consolidates North
West Business
-19k -111k Universe
-406k
Of 150,000 Additional Penetration Impacts Added to CRM over
last 18 Months – increasing size of CRM Universe to 280,000
Records, 120,000 were part of
Experian Prospect Universe (80%)

41. BLNW Business Timeline
Appointment of Experian as Data Building Web-
Management Services Supplier. Accessed Data
Detailed Health-Check and Profiling Reporting
of Intensive Assist Data - Feb 2008 Dashboards &
ExtraNet Jun to
Jul 2008
Decision taken to Development of Extra Net
integrate CRM Data with Capability Accessible by
NW Segment of Experian Partners. Phase 1: Static User-
NBD giving access to defined Reports downloadable
detailed financial info,
in Pdf Format. Phase 2:
Yell, Thomson,
Commercial Mosaic Dynamic Drill-down Dashboard
allowing BLNW to Reporting facility accessible
segment data in a over the Web within a Citrix
scientific manner at a very Server Operating Environment.
granular level

42. Agenda
North
How the West Was Won

43. Cross Referencing – The key to real
data value and context
• When Experian attempted to match BLNW’s database to theirs
they had a 38% match – BLNW achieved currently 87%. (Ultimate
aim 95%)
• A 38% match would effectively render Experian's data base as
invalid and would prevent a satisfactory richness of company
profiling.
• Data would be viewed by general management as irrelevant
unless it is structured & organised in a format that is easily
understandable.
• Every organisation has a language and a framework – they will
ignore anything that they do not intuitively understand.
• 38% is TOO LOW
• Brace yourself – here’s the Techie bit

44. Technical Focus on the BPI Project
•Data Matching
• Fuzzy Logic
• Levenshtein algorhythm
• Stripping the data
• Other routines
Populating the Data Warehouse
• Data Quality
• Data Richness
• Fitness for Purpose
• “Trendable” data
Reporting from the Data Warehouse
• Examples of what is available from the Extranet reporting facility

45. How did Business Link achieve a high proportion of matches?
Fuzzy Logic
Matching of CRM
against Experian
data
Levenshtein Distance
formula utilised to identify
text string similarity
Company Trading
Names stripped of
spurious characters,
suffixes and cases prior
to matching
Routines developed
to associate SIC
codes to RES
Sectors

46. …and the result?
Experian
CRM
130k records
87% 536k records
Matching
Business
Performance
Index
Warehouse
550k records

47. Building the Business Performance Index Warehouse
Is it simply a case of matching records and adding quantity?
Data
Warehouse

48. Building the Business Performance Index Warehouse
D quality:
Data
CRM Continuously:
- Duplicates removed
- Inconsistencies removed/amended
- Accuracy verified
- New records validated
Every fortnight:
- Duplicates removed
- Inconsistencies removed/amended
- Accuracy verified
- Fitness for inclusion into CRM
or Data Warehouse determined
Every quarter:
- All geography data updated

49. Building the Business Performance Index Warehouse
D Richness:
Data
CRM
YES
Have we already dealt
with the business?
BPI Data
Valuable additional data Warehouse
attributes incorporated into
CRM, richer records
incorporated into Data
Warehouse
536k records

50. Building the Business Performance Index Warehouse
D
Fitness for Purpose:
CRM
NO
Have we already dealt
with the business?
Suitable for
Active Trading Status? analysis but not
Active Database Record? BPI Data for CRM
Warehouse
YES
NO
Safe for Marketing?
Not on Mail Preference
Service?
Not on Telephone Preference
Service?
Not an “off the shelf” company
(100s at same address)?
536k records

51. Building the Business Performance Index Warehouse
“Trendable” data:
March 15thst
February1st
March 15th
Januaryst15th
April 1 1
April 1st
May 14th
1st
CRM
BPI Data
Warehouse

52. Business Performance Index Reporting
•First Phase
• Business Objects utilised to build a suite of reports
• Bursting routines produce Acrobat pdf versions of these
suites aimed at the various target audiences:
- Sub-Regional organisations
- Local Authorities
- Others
• Sharepoint used as the delivery vehicle
• Advantages
- Easiest method for a quick, consistent delivery
- Limits reliance on Business Objects licenses
- Very secure

53. How Can We Rapid
The Help? Response Framework
Complex Data Analytics
to provide Partners with
very detailed information
Complexity of Query
Simple phone Hotline to
service requests for Data
Web Enabled multi partner
from Business Support
access to BLNW Database
Agencies
through Extranet facility
Business Link Involvement

54. ….and MANY
more

55. Key Attributes of BLNW’s Business
Performance Index Data
 “Real time” Business data - updated monthly
 Is the first (B2B) business profiling system in the public sector
 Using Commercial Risk Data allows BLNW to identify, track & monitor
struggling Businesses
 BLNW’s BPI Data is the hub at the heart of a Shared Intelligence Network
accessible by Partners
 The Rapid Response Framework: 3 Level Response to the Current
Economic Climate:

56. Agenda
London Calling

57. Key Stakeholders
Marketing Operations Executive Cluster Orgs. NWDA
Build increased Improve take-up Meeting of Make definitive Provision of
penetration of intensive Strategic pronouncements relevant and up-
amongst assists for Priorities: To be about the to-date
service users Broker Team by recognized as effectiveness of information on
through increasing lead the leader on BLNW services emerging
delivered to the business trends
improved generation regional
NW Business allowing the
segmentation business
Community NWDA to service
and targeting intelligence and including requests from
playing a vital Membership & Government,
role in Cluster Orgs, Political Parties
informing Local Councils, & Lobbying Orgs
business Politicians &
support policy Opinion Leaders
making
“Advanced “Vastly “Delivering “Sharing of Key “One Version of
Customer Improved Lead Strategic Data across the the Truth”
Segmentation” Quality” Priorities” Region”
INTERNAL The Business Support Environment EXTERNAL

58. Impact Analysis – Key Achievements to Date
• Marketing: Dramatically Improved Response Rates from Direct Marketing Activity
• Has allowed BLNW to Build increased penetration through improved segmentation and targeting
• Achieved 14.29% conversion rate rate from Large Scale Direct Mail Activity (35,000) – c.5,000 new users over a 2 Month period
• Operations: Has given Adviser Teams Access to High quality Leads in Increased Volumes
• Has Improve take-up of intensive assists for Broker Team by increasing lead generation – Diaries of Advisers full
• Access to a Much Wider Universe of Businesses than previously allowing BLNW to widen the net
• Executive: Strategic Priorities: Recognized as the leader on regional business intelligence and playing a vital role in informing
business support policy making
• Enhancement both Reputation and Policy Influencing Role of BLNW within Business Support Community
 Business Support Community Partners & Stakeholder Orgs: Has allowed BLNW to Make Definitive Pronouncements about the
effectiveness of its Services to the NW Business Community including Membership & Cluster Orgs, Local Councils,
Politicians & Change Architects
• Has allowed BLNW to contextualize the impact of its service delivery with robust evidence
• Benchmarking effective performance and identifying gaps
• In return has allowed Business Support Community Partners & Stakeholders to consider their own activity whilst providing
effective specific Business Support in their Geography/Sector
• Northwest Development Agency: Provision of relevant and up-to-date information on emerging business trends allowing the NWDA to
service requests from Government, Political Parties & Lobbying Orgs
• BLNW Data recognized as the Primary Source of Business Intelligence in the Northwest Region
• Creation of Rapid Response Framework with BLNW Data Warehouse(s) at Core
• Delivery of Strategic Business Trend Data to Key Decision-Makers have become Key Forecasting Indices
• Data at this level of granularity is available to no other RDA

59. Who wanted to know what?
Everyone had an opinion but NOBODY had the facts
• NWBL had a significant set of operational targets for Y1 of its
operation
• Certain members of the business support community in the North
West felt challenged by BL
Information Type - Performance
Interested Parties Local Regional By Sector By Theme By Team Team Member
NWDA
Government
Cluster Organisations
Geographic Orgaisations
Local Operations Management
Marketing
Business Development

60. BLNW are uniquely placed to deliver market intelligence
Experience- Evidence-
influenced based
Aim: Change
Experience
from Anecdotal &
Judgmental to
Evidence-based
Decision making
Evidence-
Opinion-based influenced
Evidence / Information

61. The Advocacy Model
Build Data Coalition: Communicate the
Benefits Internally
Value Chain for the North West Business Data Universe
Creation of Database
– customers –
internally focussed
BL Management and
internal data First Phase - Create
consumers

62. The Advocacy Model
Data becomes more relevant for
decision making bodies
Internal
Sector specialists
and cluster
management
teams
First interaction Second Phase – Sell
with third party
data consumers
Benefits
and political
oganisations

63. The Advocacy Model
Data becomes more relevant for
decision making bodies
Internal Sector
Geographically
dispersed bodies
require data to
confirm Business
support activities
or to quantify the
impact of future
plans and policies
Third Phase – Build Dependency

64. -Business Performance Index - Partner Engagement Who have we worked with?
Wave 3
Wave 2
Wave 1

65. What happened after we shared the data?
Lancashire Economic West Lancashire The Mersey Manchester City Council
Partnership District Council Partnership
Ward level Reporting on
Major Input into Report on SoHo Cross LA Report on Commercial Risk and
Economic Downturn Businesses across the Commercial Risk Insolvency Rates
Report for 4Northwest Borough, Profiling of Position at Sub- amongst Businesses in
Industry Sectors and Regional Level and Manchester to identify
Collaborative provision of Data on Insolvency Rates and market to
Reporting and Shared Plastics Businesses in need
Input into Policy Manufacturers. Benchmark Reporting
Making Supporting Data Driven
Informing Policy Decision Making
Making
Liverpool Vision The Commission for Bolton Council/Business Cumbria Vision
the New Economy Bolton
Testing of criteria to (Manchester Sub-Regional View of
inform delivery of Enterprises) Profiling of Large Business Performance
Business Support Businesses by across all 6 Local
Activity designed to Cross Local Authority Employee Nos. to Authorities
render assistance to View of Commercial identify Businesses in
struggling retail Risk, Insolvency and Above Average or High Provision of Data where
Businesses Businesses by Size Commercial Risk Bands none existed previously
and Turnover and the development of
Data Driven Segmentation to drive shared analytical
Marketing to effect Top Down versus Collaborative Direct resource facilities to
the optimum delivery Bottom-Up view of Marketing Activity to meet analytical
of Public Funding Policy Making to deliver Business Support resource deficiencies –
available to support identify severity and to deliver policy impact – in this case the
struggling Businesses concentration of impact in this case ameliorate Cumbria Observatory.
and that its impact upon Businesses of the impact of
can be effectively both the recession and unemployment
measured policy

66. The Advocacy Model
Data becomes more relevant for
decision making bodies
Internal Sector Geography
Local hierarchy of
business support
functions demand
input to decision
making and
assessment of
economic impact.
Fourth Phase – Widen User Base

67. The Power of the BPI: Project Rapier – a Business Support Partner in
Liverpool’s objective of spending £10M to save 40 businesses in the retail
sector by end Q1 2009
£729.71
How do you Identify a…
 …company that is at least of
Liverpool (13,704) Above Average Risk
£48,309
 which is based in Liverpool
 which Employs 50 or more
Employs 50 or more (207) Employees at Site
£151,515
 specifically in the Central Ward
Central Ward (66)  which is in the Retail Sector
£2.5M In Retail
 whose payment profile is
Sector (4) deteriorating.
Deteriorating
Payment Profile (1)
£10M Are we seriously suggesting
that we would be prepared to
give just 1 Retailer all £10M of the
available support funding?
-This information is based on data provided by Experian. The data has been subject to further analysis by Business Link North West.

68. And that business was?
• Zavvi payment profile was 20 days
better than industry sector average
from Jan 2008 – June 2008
• In July Zavvi payment profile was
in line with sector average (20 days
beyond terms)
• By September the profile was 60
days beyond terms, October was
80 days. Zavvi went into
receivership in December
• What is the true cost of poor data -
£10m?

69. The Advocacy Model
Data becomes more relevant for
decision making bodies
Internal Sector Geography Local
Demand for joined up
information sources and
“one version of the truth”
among all business
support organisations.
Tie together regional
strategy and delivery with
a system of quantifiable
evidence based results
Fifth Phase – Consolidate Business Intelligence

70. The Advocacy Model
Data becomes more relevant for
decision making bodies
Internal Sector Geography Local Regional
Regional Data can
be used to
challenge and
improve National
directives.
Involve regional
Sixth Phase – Influence factual data in
National
National Agenda extrapolation.

71. What Have We Built
"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing
your enthusiasm” Winston Churchill
• Developed the first of its kind Business Objects reporting tool for
Business Support in the North West.
• Have placed “evidence based” policy making capabilities within the
reach of the regions political agencies.
• We have challenged perceived truths and can support or refute
anecdotal claims
• We have developed cutting edge Fuzzy Logic matching routines
• We have mapped the main business classification systems to the
language used in Local Government and Business Support
• Created the first B2B profile driven database

72. Risks & Key Considerations
•Data Protection (DPA) is a key issue – currently
Business Link are investigating with Eversheds the
steps required to allow us to share data whilst ensuring
compliance with DPA
•The service development within Business Link needs
to focus on data integrity
•Business Link can offer a unique perspective on the
North West Business community and offers specific
anecdotal evidence to the BPI to enhance its credibility
with partners

73. Data Sharing
Progress to date:
• Director and Senior Manager allocated responsibility for Data
Protection
• Extended the scope of purpose for ICO registration
• BLNW Data Protection policy and procedures now in draft
• BLNW Contract in place with Experian
• Technical controls now in place
• Data sharing Partner agreements distributed to partners
• Staff training in Data Protection ongoing

74. Data Sharing – Ensuring compliance……
To ensure compliance and demonstrate that BLNW has conducted its operation
properly, the following principles will be adopted with Partners:
• Partners and BLNW will ensure staff reliability by training all staff in Data Protection
• BLNW and our data sharing partners will meet regularly to review and further develop our
Data Protection and IT security strategies.
• BLNW will only share data with agreed partners and that data will be screened to prevent
disclosure of confidential data
• BLNW will advise data sharing partners where ‘purposes’ as declared under registration with
the Information Commissioner are not compatible with our purposes.
• While purposes do not have to be identical they do need to be compatible and not
contradictory.
• Bespoke Data Sharing agreements with all Partners.
• Ongoing engagement and close Partnership working with the BLNW data team.