Au Revoir Regeneration

Posted on October 8, 2011. Filed under: Uncategorized |

Some months ago I wrote a blog entry called ‘Gentlemen and Players’ in which I speculated that the only people who would be able to afford to work in regeneration would be those with another job or independent income. Well in my case that prophesy is on the verge of coming true.

I’s to be dotted and T’s to be crossed aside, at the end of October I am taking a new job in the field of Bid Management in a sector that has nothing whatsoever to do with evaluations, community renewal, enterprise, feasibility studies or stakeholder consultation. It is not a case of being ecstatic at doing something else but I have to say that the writing has been on the wall for regeneration consultancy for quite a while, both personally and as an industry.

Here are my reflections on regeneration and self-employment.

1. Personally its not been all bad news. I suppose my confidence professionally must have taken a knock. I was made redundant in both 2009 and 2010. Within this context I am quite proud that I have done rather better than scratch around for a living since starting my own business in August 2010. I have managed to gain a number of paid clients and have manged to pay myself as well.

2. It’s a strange thing to do as a sole trader though, regeneration. Whether in my bid writing, social media or ‘straight’ consultancy guises I have done my best to ‘network’. The thing is though that at networking events for self-employed people and small businesses you tend to meet other self-employed people. Frankly how many one (wo)man bands need a quick evaluation or LinkedIn training session knocked up? Not many I can see. So the regen practitioner really needs to be networking with the public sector, professions and larger private sector businesses which isn’t so easy.

3. We are engaged in a race to the bottom. From 2000-2009 I reckon I worked on something like 75 assignments. Day rates went progressively up and at my peak at the most senior non-directorial level in small/medium consultancies I was charged out at a rate of £850 and clients didn’t blink twice at this. In 2011 in terms of both consultancy and interim management I have failed to win work as day rates of less than £200 have won the day.

4. It’s only going to get worse. Number 3 is being exacerbated by the entry into the jobs and consultancy market of masses of RDA, Business Link and other public sector redundant workers. This is a problem. I already know that people armed with pay-offs are offering to do work for virtually nothing to establish consultancy track record and ‘to tide me over until I retire’. Regardless of the merits of these people as consultants as opposed to managers (and my experience tells me that some people will make excellent consultants but many more won’t) they are likely in the short term to do okay as their contact lists of public sector commissioners will be far more up to date than someone like me who has been in the public sector facing but private sector environment for 10 years plus.

5. And once the short-term price advantages of competitors come to an end what then? Fundamentally regeneration is now a supply side industry. There are hundreds of us out there, whether we call ourselves regeneration consultants, business advisers, economic development advisers or community workers many, many people will have relied on the public sector to fund their business activity. Frankly, the public sector buyer no longer exists in sufficient numbers. It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that regeneration is a bit like coal mining in 1985…in its last throes, at least as a paid profession.

6. …I am not entirely convinced that that is entirely a bad thing by the way. Some people (Gentlemen ‘Amateurs’ community activists and politicians that tend to be very right or very left wing in perspective) have long held the view that regeneration isn’t or shouldn’t be an ‘industry’ and that self help and ‘bottom up’ renewal are the keys to effective regeneration. Perhaps these voices are right. Perhaps not. Certainly ‘content light’ but ‘peer help heavy’ models and initiatives such as Voluntary Mentoring and Start-Up Britain are building up a head of steam. I am not sure what they will achieve but a consequence is that there is less money being paid to erstwhile professional advisers.

7. I am looking forward to the next challenge. I certainly have 10 years plus as a regeneration consultant to thank for gaining my new position. The good news is that clearly some skills are very transferable, chiefly bid writing and bid management. In the final analysis perhaps spending your working life with people who either a) are worried about being made redundant or b) have lower budgets than before or c) want you to work for them for nothing rubs off on you and I really do think that most people in regen are walking around with their chins on the floor.

8. Straw does break the camel’s back. I was part of a consortium that ‘won’ some work two weeks ago only to be told three days later that the work would not be forthcoming as the organisation was having to make savings including job losses.

I just need a new environment. You struggle to get a sandwich provided by the public sector these days. I went to a conference with my soon to be colleagues on Thursday night where a sumptuous meal and unlimited beer and wine were free all night . I am beginning to see that although the economic picture is bad, some sectors and some individuals are carrying on their normal business without having to micro-analyse and worry about the latest crackpot initiative dreamt up by a politician.

Perhaps I may re-emerge as a voluntary board member of some regen initiative or other. Perhaps I may come back to regeneration consultancy in time. For now it is a case of ‘au revoir’.

My future blog entries will have more on my new role and probably a few more opinion pieces on the things that matter to me. The shackles are off I guess.