Alan has been a senior director of three research companies since his career started in 1991. He is a professional social researcher and evaluator with a focus on contributing evidence, thought leadership and strategic support for some of society’s largest challenges. He is a confident (though reluctant) public speaker.
Alan attaches great importance to evidence and will use that to the benefit of all his work for clients, though not to the extent that it will stifle test and learn approaches especially where an evidence base is lacking or not well developed.
It is enjoyable to support clients who want to make a difference from the outset – as their ideas are being conceived rather than after they are fully formed. This means helping develop theories of change, logic models and using consultancy skills that encourage a client to imagine and plan for a more certain future with appropriate evaluation and impact measurement considerations baked in to early design stages rather than when it’s too late or brought in as an afterthought. We have evaluative experience that is best directed at interventions of 1-5 years, but Alan is particularly motivated to support organisations who want to develop their own evaluative and impact measurement practice and skills so that it is something they can do confidently for themselves longer term.
Here are some of Alan’s specialisms should you be interested to share learning on any of these topics.
Workforce Development (including skills strategy, investment and programme design)
Alan spent the first 20 years of his career learning about, and developing research that has contributed towards improved education, employment, enterprise, skills, training and career policy and programmes. This focus was about helping people improve their labour market position and planning their futures with greater confidence. He continues to provide strategic consultancy to a small number of key sectors where his expertise is deepest including sport and active wellbeing, health and social care, the voluntary and community sector, nuclear, low carbon and engineering. This work is most relevant today in the context of the government’s agenda for growth and for combined authority ambitions to achieve that growth whilst benefiting local people and communities – rather than growth at the cost of greater disparities.
Health and inclusion – prevention and early intervention
Since 2007, Alan has invested greater energy in seeking to understand and learn about people and society to help reduce inequalities and improve physical and mental wellbeing. His consultancy seeks to encourage investments and / or protect evidence-based programmes that support individuals to have greater control over the world around them.
Current work ranges from helping to devise approaches to tackle loneliness and social isolation, to encouraging more youth work and mentoring to helping multiple charities improve their impact practice in order to tackle poverty more confidently through their work.
Skyblue has a vibrant portfolio of project evaluations that have an intention to reduce or prevent mental ill health and / or promote good mental health and emotional wellbeing in different audiences. The role of the VCSE sector and the interventions they provide is a particular focus of current study and learning rather than clinical interventions already suitably assessed by academics and health system partners.
Skyblue is also undertaking systems improvement evaluation in Craven where health, statutory services, Integrated Care Board, VCSE, local Community Partnership, community groups and representatives are working together to reduce preventable deaths across identified conditions, with inclusion groups in specific neighbourhoods that are punctuated by high Index of Multiple Deprivation indicators. This kind of working – in a localised way to affect each other’s practices, skills and behaviours – is not easy, and how it relates to and influences the wider system in which it is situated; but the learning from it is significant for the future.
The common thread to these commissions is to play a part in encouraging more preventative and early intervention measures in society. A skilled facilitator, presenter and strategist, Alan works hard to convert ideas and evidence into actionable recommendations and plans that can create a distinct difference over time and making the case for earlier intervention despite the pressures for statutory services to often prioritise cashable savings.
Social mobility through education and making attendance everyone’s business
A significant focus of Alan’s career has been on evaluating the efficacy of different interventions to achieve educational outcomes – not just attainment and qualifications, but other routes to achieve social mobility with a greater focus on learning what works to provide equity of opportunity for young people defined by the Department for Education as disadvantaged. Skyblue’s role in supporting first, the synthesis review of the (c£9 million) North Yorkshire Coast Opportunity Area (2017-2022), then a review of school behaviour and exclusion investments led ultimately to becoming the Learning Partner for the ‘Achieve Education Programme’ funded by Anglo American and the Woodsmith Foundation.
The Achieve Programme was first conceived in 2020 when Skyblue was asked to undertake a detailed market assessment for the localities covered by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and (then) Scarborough Borough Council, in turn leading to a successful investment case being made to the potential funders; subsequently leading to the ongoing implementation of the Programme since its launch in 2023. Skyblue now provides formative evaluation and learning services to continually improve the conditions for its success and impact.
Since that time, Alan has been asked to bring some of his stakeholder engagement and research skills to bear for a system improvement project to ‘Make Attendance Everyone’s Business’ in Redcar & Cleveland in an attempt to reduce the risk of and prevent persistent and severe absence in the Borough to 2040.
Please see these public pages for more information about ‘Achieve’
World Youth Skills Day 2024 | Anglo American
Achieve - North Yorkshire Together
And here for more information about the attendance project:
Food insecurity
One of the few good things perhaps to come from the pandemic were new forms of cooperation between different partners, organisations and people recognising the common challenge, fear and tragedies that took place in that period. One such example was the way in which the local authorities across North Yorkshire & York co-operated on a range of initiatives, and from that experience it was recognised that food insecurity (amongst other issues allied to poverty and hardship) were issues much larger than any single actor could address. For 3 years Alan has now led research exploring ways in which different community food provision models can deliver a range of more predictable outcomes for individuals, VCSE organisations, statutory services and localities owing to deeper insight about each model and their efficacy. Work has been published and used by different academics and places in the UK and the recommendations continue to inform local investment whilst also contributing to much wider ‘Food Strategy’ systems thinking across North Yorkshire.
Please see: www.skyblue.org.uk/foodinsecurity
Communities
Arguably Alan’s deepest knowledge and expertise is found in his work linked to community development, capacity building and investment. It accounts for a significant proportion of Skyblue’s energy, learning and inquiry and requires a skillset that stretches Skyblue’s talents to the limit. It is an area of work that we find relentlessly motivating, complex, knotty, messy, vitally important and wonderful! (Please see Stronger Communities for more)
Personal Life
Married to Donna and with their two children Adam and Amber, Alan is a dedicated family man. He lives in York and enjoys nothing more than rambling in the City and across North Yorkshire – as long as there is some kind of café reward in sight!
Determined to give back to this wider community he takes immense pride in having been a long- time supporter, previous Trustee and Chair of North Yorkshire Sport, a charity determined to help people become more physically and mentally active and healthy. You can see some of the work involved in that role in these films if it interests you.
North Yorkshire Sport Impact Report 2020/21: A year of lockdown, inequalities, and community
North Yorkshire Sport Impact Report 2021/2022
Donna is Skyblue’s Finance Director and Company Secretary, involved with the family business since its inception in 2007.
Skyblue also works with associates Paul Rhodes (Consulting) and Sue Vasey (Ideas Mine) who have specialist expertise adding value to Skyblue’s work for clients.
Paul works closely with Alan on the social mobility, education, skills and training commissions whilst Sue works with Alan on strategic voluntary and community sector commissions. For small scale telephone field research we collaborate with trained specialist, John Wooldridge and we are grateful to Carl Letman for our digital services support.
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