The Covid-19 pandemic caused the biggest economic shock of recent times. The ongoing and uncertain nature of the global emergency means that economic recovery will neither be straightforward nor achievable in the short-term. The North East LEP, as part of its role within the North East Covid-19 Economic Recovery Group, sought to bring in a team to support the development of timely, targeted evidence and analysis to support the recovery planning.
Ortus, working in partnership with New Skills Consulting, was commissioned to provide regular intelligence reports to the Economic Recovery Group and the LEP Board. This involved ongoing analysis of a wide range key data sources, including standard economic and labour market datasets but also those related to the various support schemes established by government (e.g. CJRS and SEISS) and capturing and reporting on qualitative evidence drawn from a range of stakeholders and partners.
We also delivered a deep-dive study looking at the impact of the pandemic on the self-employed.
Our work has helped the LEP and partners to understand the impacts arising from the pandemic and to better prepare responses to those impacts. Our research was summarised in the latest edition of the LEP’s annual Our Economy report.