• Talk to us on
    (+44) (0)1225 320050

Search Geofutures:

Author Archive

Lessons from history

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

I’ve found the BBC series Edwardian Farm has successfully combined cheery comfort viewing with a backbone of solid research, which is interesting in the context of the food security analysis we’ve done. This is something we urgently need to continue if there’s to be any chance of planning ahead for a time when transporting overseas produce becomes unaffordable, and we’re still pursuing funding opportunities with our research partners.

Edwardian Farm is set in the Tamar Valley which divides Cornwall and Devon, a few navigable miles upriver north of Plymouth. The particular topography of this land, sheltered from north winds and offering a series of south-facing slopes (some very steep), together with the river and later the railway, enabled a specialist market gardening industry to develop.

The conditions meant local growers here could cash in on earlier fruit and flower crops than other areas, and long before road haulage was a reality growers here were daily serving markets as far afield as Glasgow and London. The valley also supported a growers’ association which ran a factory producing the pine baskets used to transport the produce.

River transport served local markets, but the railway was the key to this scale of operation. Reading an account by John Snell, a previous railway employee, we find a quote from the Southern Railway staff magazine of September 1949:

‘The Tamar Valley growers have had a most successful season, both fruit and flowers being heavy. The following dispatched from Gunnislake, Calstock, Bere Alston, Bere Ferrers and Tamerton Foliot.

Number of boxes of flowers sent           138,228

Number of boxes of fruit sent                 240,564

Passenger Vans dispatched                    590

Number of special trains run                  29

All traffic had good transit and those concerned are to be congratulated on the successful result of the efforts to get this highly perishable traffic to the markets in prime condition’.

For communities and regions considering how they will feed themselves in an energy crisis, it’s heartening how quickly local Tamar growers originally responded to this opportunity, organising, employing thousands, creating efficient operational structures, and cross-breeding to develop suitable fruit varieties, and how the railway was able to design timetables and commercially viable transit fees around growers’ needs.

Equally, we could view what happened as an early analogue of fossil-fuelled long-distance food distribution, and take note how the whole valley’s economy came to a shuddering halt as soon as the branch line succumbed to Beeching’s axe in the 1960s.

If the Tamar market gardeners had only been supplying more local markets, might more of them have survived? Do you need a food transport system with the clunky reliability of a railway for hundreds of small producers to organise around? And in the absence of cheap overseas food imports, can we imagine local food production economies like this taking shape once again?

Ruth Keily

All change down the high street

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

An interesting perspective on our initial gambling research is the industry’s potential role in the transformation of the high street. Bookmakers have joined fast food outlets, charity and discount shops in taking over high street premises vacated by independent food retailers, specialist shops and boutiques, all hit by falling sales. Even Newmarket, the spiritual home of a quick flutter, has the local community questioning the opening of a 12th bookie in the town.

Individually, each change of tenant may have only a limited impact and certainly these new openings may be more welcome than empty shops. It’s only when the balance of a town centre’s characteristics tips beyond a certain point that we can see the whole local economy skewed towards night-time visitors, for example, which can then make the remaining traditional shops struggle even more.

Having worked in the town centres field since 1996 I’m aware of their pace of change over that time, and also of the need to track this kind of fundamental shift with consistent measurement based on well-defined parameters. To coin a phrase, we have the technology (and the data). The government halted the town centres statistical series a few years ago, but even better data is now available, requiring only an existing model to be refined and re-run.

If I were in the retail sector I’d certainly want to know how town centre developments are likely to perform, especially after the recent performance results from non-food retailers including HMV, Dixons, Thorntons and Game Group. The food sector seemed to have survived the snow and unemployment fears better, but then today Tesco announced a poorer than expected showing.

This, to be fair, it has attributed to its non-food business, although underlying growth in its food sales was also behind that of Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s. More intriguingly, its non-food sales were, by its own account, impacted disproportionately because Tesco has more large out of town stores than its rivals, which were more difficult to get to in December’s bad weather.

I’d be a fool to predict the imminent demise of Tesco but I do wonder whether out of town retail locations have finally succumbed to their Achilles heel: accessibility by car. All of these retail developments need people will drive to them. Snow and ice are clearly more of a barrier than high petrol prices now, but how far must these rise before a trip to a superstore is priced out of the market?

Mark Thurstain-Goodwin

Gambling research checks the odds

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

November 2010: We’re delighted to be commencing work with The Responsible Gambling Fund and Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, together with social research experts NatCen, into the distribution of gambling machines in Great Britain.

The socio-economic characteristics of the locations with highest gambling machine densities will be correlated and analysed as part of this work, helping to lay a robust data foundation for future research into problem gambling, vulnerable gamblers and possible causal factors.

The Responsible Gambling Fund (RGF) is a charity funding relief for those in need as a result of gambling and promoting education, treatment and research. As part of its objective to use the best available evidence from the widest possible sources with regard to prevention, treatment and research in problem gambling and its causes, RGF regularly commissions high quality research on problem gambling and the risk of harm from gambling.

NatCen, the National Centre for Social Research, is Britain’s leading independent social research institute. Having carried out the British Gambling Prevalence Survey, NatCen has undertaken a number of follow-up research studies into the social and financial context of problem gamblers. Their specialists will guide data specification, spatial analysis assumptions and modelling results interpretation in this research.

Geofutures and NatCen share an academic pedigree, and both organisations are committed to putting socially valuable insight into the public domain. Using spatial data analysis to relate areas of highest gambling machine density to the neighbourhoods is an ideal use of our technology and methods, and we look forward to the outcomes of this important study.

See RGF’s press release

More about NatCen

Sustainability in business

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Don’t just take our word for it

It’s official – sustainability is no longer a brand issue or evidence of corporate social responsibility: it’s a key business driver.

We’re already directing our insight and analysis offer towards helping organisations make well informed long-term sustainability decisions, but it’s always nice to have your convictions reaffirmed. Companies aren’t investing in this field because they want to be seen to be green, but because it makes sound business sense, and that’s what will keep it going.

So here’s a short selection of views I’ve come across about why sustainability is central to business. What also emerges, of course, is that business is central to sustainability. Green campaigners have kept the torch alight for decades, but it will take the mass momentum of the business economy to make a difference at the scale that’s required.

“The scales literally fell from my eyes, and it was so obvious that any business which focuses on the things that are important to its customers will not be wasting resources anywhere in its business, as any unit of waste is one less unit of resource. The whole logic that smart business is a sustainable business came through in spades. Never mind the science; what business is about is being ruthlessly effective delivering value to our customers, and that must be about stripping out inefficiency of any kind. Why would you knowingly waste the resources of the Earth?” Ronan Dunne, Chief Executive, O2 UK

“For Addison Lee, it’s always been about the commercial benefits – more than the green agenda. We made the company more efficient, and as a result, its carbon footprint kept shrinking. It was a series of steps, starting with simple things like fitting windows with high insulation ratings. Our ‘green’ action plan said to put better windows on the first floor, but the cost benefits were so clear that we did the whole building.” John Griffin, CEO, Addison Lee

“Doing the right thing on climate change saves money, retains customers, creates new market opportunity and takes you beyond just compliance. It reduces your risk exposure and reduces risk to shareholders.” Dr Jonathan Foot, Chief Environmental Officer, EDF Energy

“Think about it…if we throw it away, we had to buy it first. So we pay twice, once to get it, once to have it taken away. What if we reverse that cycle? What if our suppliers send us less, and everything they send us has value as a recycled product? No waste, and we get paid instead.” Lee Scott, Chief Executive, Wal-Mart

“Business is the force of change. Business is essential to solving the climate crisis, because this is what business is best at: innovating, changing, addressing risks, searching for opportunities. There is no more vital task.” Richard Branson

“It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin

Ruth Keily

Cutting the mustard

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Which non-profit organisations will survive the comprehensive spending review?

As we wait to see what the comprehensive spending review brings us, I’ve been struck by the different responses to the funding cuts among the various government departments, quangos, non-profits and others we meet and work alongside.

Some have a touch of fatalism. “There’s no money in food,” sighed one experienced campaigner in the sector this month. Supermarket profit figures flickered through my mind, but I knew he was talking about funding for food security research.

Major supermarket chains may grow more interested in this as their supplies become unaffordable, but it’s currently the domain of campaigners and environmental researchers and it’s certainly true that government investment is hard to come by.

Others seem to be quietly getting on with things, remaining committed to their objectives and hoping they can still be delivered through shrunken enterprises or other organisations altogether.

Now, I can’t comment on the management bloat or otherwise at the top of the Audit Commission, but the research teams we worked with in this particular quango slated for closure were efficient, knew what they wanted, handled procurement carefully and economically, and applied a great deal of knowledge and insight to the findings. Based on my own experience, I find it hard to believe that taxpayers are being well served by losing all this expertise to the ether.

Then there are organisations previously funded by government now being forced to seek alternative sources of income. Many have information, expertise and services which have commercial potential, but the change of culture can be an uncomfortable ride.

As a bog-standard commercial company with salaries to pay and shareholders to please, we’ve occasionally encountered suspicion from those who’ve been working to a charitable, academic or government agenda, as if any company with a profit motive must be unethical by design.

I’ve never believed this, and I hope one benefit of government, commercial and third-sector bodies being thrown together in Big Society-style partnerships is that boundaries will be blurred and cultures will rub off on one another.

Whether it happens quickly enough to save the non-profits for whom profit has suddenly entered the vocabulary remains to be seen: my money’s on those staffed by people who understand the value of their own knowledge and how they can help others benefit from it.

Then there are the armies of local community organisations who never had much money in the first place. Somerset Community Food are a good example of a group which has pursued funding from appropriate sources and is enabling other participants to contribute information to their FoodMapper project quickly and easily. You don’t have to be grubby and commercial to realise that investing wisely in your information assets will deliver returns to your cause.

And of course that’s the common theme, the ultimate differentiator which will separate those organisations and individuals who will sink and those who will swim. There’s money in food, and there’s money in every other sphere of sustainability research. We just need to channel it to the organisations who are building vital insight, working to make sure it reaches the decision makers, and taking the best from government, commerce and third sector cultures to keep the important work going.

Mark Thurstain-Goodwin

The Regional Growth Fund: it’s all in the data

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

August 2010: The UK coalition government’s consultation paper on the new Regional Growth Fund is worth a read if you’re interested in how spending decisions will be made in future.

Anything which will move us towards investment spending again after this prolonged period of post-election purdah must be welcomed, but even the least politically minded among us must wonder how it is all going to work.

The idea, as we know, is for the Fund to “re-balance” the economy of England (the devolved governments and London will be funded separately) by funding projects which will “encourage private sector enterprise” and “create additional sustainable private sector employment”, which have been proposed by local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) or directly by private sector organisations.

What I hope this consultation exercise picks up is that any organisation responsible for setting local economic strategy and bidding for considerable sums of cash needs good quality information on which to base its decisions and justifications.

By definition, Lord Heseltine and his colleagues who will be assessing the LEPs’ proposals will also need to know whether the priorities set by business-led groups adequately reflect the overall needs of the community.

This isn’t to imply that local public-private groupings can’t do a better job than large and possibly less accountable regional development authorities: the freedom to operate within self-defined “economic geographies” and to prioritise what matters to them has clear potential to improve things.

But prioritisation, whoever does it, requires expertise and sound, reliable data. As we know from our work, the investment that’s urgently required in the east of a city may be entirely different to what’s needed in the west. Rural communities will need something else again. And new jobs need to be the right kind of jobs. We need to know before we decide.

The Fund is initially committed for only two years, though it may continue, which is more likely to encourage quick-win job creation schemes than building long-term resilience into our economy to meet challenges such as climate change.

I have great respect for anyone willing to work on a voluntary basis, presumably in addition to a demanding private sector job, to help manage a LEP. Time will tell whether the attractions of local participation tempt the brightest and best to do it: I hope so, since we will inevitably lose local knowledge and expertise with the disbanding of the RDAs and other quangoes.

For my money (and it is my money, as well as yours) I’d like to see some of the savings made in abolishing RDAs invested in the economic, social and environmental information made available to the public-spirited individuals who are expected to replace them. If we want accountable and transparent local development decisions from our LEPs, it’s a small price to pay.

Have your say on the Regional Growth Fund Consultation on the BIS website [external link] before 6 September 2010.

Ruth Keily

Freelance Python / Java / PHP / CSS developers wanted

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

We’re always interested in building our roster of bright, reliable software development freelancers to help us meet short-term demands and also to work on longer term projects, with hours to suit and with scope for remote working.

You’d mainly be working on our rich client side web applications, possibly also some spatial data modelling.

  • We’re looking for suppliers with solid experience in at least one of the following languages: Java, Python or PHP.
  • You should also be comfortable with MySQL or PostgreSQL.
  • There is a strong focus on Linux: you should be happy using Linux and not run a mile when you see a terminal window!
  • You’ll need to be confident sharing ideas with other programmers, understanding requirements quickly and communicating responses clearly.

We’d also be interested in hearing from skilled GUI designers with strong CSS to support web design and enhancement projects, especially those in reasonable proximity to Bath and able to join us on site for a few days at a time.

If you think you could contribute to our work, please send a CV to rk@geofutures.com (please include ‘Development freelancer’ in the subject line) and let us know your hourly / daily rates. Thanks!

Developers wanted: Python, Java, PHP

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Now recruiting: IT Developers (contract and/or permanent) – Python / Java / PHP
Bath, south west England

Challenging, varied application development roles in a fast-moving data consultancy

Please note that we can only consider applications from candidates who are currently eligible to work in the EU.

The organisation

  • An independent geographic information science (GIS) specialist, established 2002, with a healthy client pipeline
  • Varied projects working for government, corporate and third-sector clients, with a growing emphasis on providing sustainability decision tools based on GIS
  • Requiring strategic development of core technology stack and future product/service code components
  • A bright and challenging development team, working closely with GIS specialists and client-facing colleagues
  • Cheerful, informal office in central Bath (12 mins walk Bath Spa station), close to shops, bars etc

The work

Geofutures delivers data to its clients via interactive websites. Projects typically involve two main elements: data modelling and delivery via the web.

The data modelling is where Geofutures really stands out from our competitors, and this stage typically involves importing, cleaning and analysing data. We use all kinds of datasets and they come in all sizes. In the modelling stage of a project we generally employ Python.

Our rich client side web applications use GWT to give an even better user experience.

Skills needed

We are looking for candidates who have solid experience in at least one of the following languages: Java, Python or PHP.

You should also be comfortable with MySQL or PostgreSQL.

There is a strong focus on Linux: you should be happy using Linux and not run a mile when you see a terminal window!

You’ll need to be confident sharing ideas with other programmers, and also talking to non-techies at an appropriate level, understanding requirements and communicating responses in a way which helps them do their equally important jobs. We’re a small company and talking to our internal and external customers will be part of your daily routine.

The senior developer role

Approx day rate up to £275, no agency cut

We need you to be keen to get your hands dirty and do lots of coding (initially 60% off your time will be writing code). In addition, we’d also be looking to you to offer guidance on improving our software development process, plus some project management, estimating, strategic planning and workflow leadership.

The junior developer role

Approx day rate up to £225, no agency cut

Your job will be predominantly a programming role, building on a minimum of a few years’ experience in the industry. As the company grows, so will your role.

Terms

Both roles are initially seen as 6 month contracts, and the ideal candidates will also be interested in transferring to the permanent payroll at any point if all goes well.

Alternatively we are interested in interviewing candidates only interested in a permanent position at a competitive market salary depending upon the position and experience, though these will likely be subject to a 6 month probationary period.

To apply

Send your CV and covering note to: rk@geofutures.com

  • In your covering letter please tell us for which role you would like to be considered, and your salary expectations / day rate.
  • Please also tell us about at least one software practice you’ve seen, read about or used that has helped to make software development run more smoothly.
  • If you are applying for the senior developer role, then please outline how you would manage a team of 2-4 developers to bring in a £0.5 million project on time and to spec.

A new office, a new sustainability hub

Monday, June 14th, 2010

It has been a busy few months, with stimulating projects underway for The Audit Commission, Regen South West, London Climate Change Partnership and The Environment Agency among others. And because these things only happen when you’re busy, we’ve also moved offices – which is itself opening up some intriguing opportunities.

We’re now well settled in a handsome listed building in Bath’s Walcot Street, but the intriguing part is what happens when you start talking to your new landlords and their other business partners. MASCo is a long-established architectural salvage company, and in recent years they’ve applied their experience of sensitive demolition and reclamation of historic building materials to wider sustainability consulting, also recruiting full-time sustainability consultant James Hurley.

We were introduced to MASCo by Bath-based architects and urban planners Nash Partnership, who use their renovation and regeneration experience to maintain the highest standards of sustainable design.

So both these organisations saw the potential of working closely to offer a blend of talent and sustainability expertise, and also got interested in how Geofutures’ mapping, data analysis and visualisation could contribute to regeneration and development planning. Nash Partnership is also moving here, redeveloping the historic North Range building into sustainably designed office space.

Meanwhile ‘Walcot Yard’ is taking shape not only as an office location, but a sustainability hub from which we can offer public and private sector clients insight and advice, reconnecting the building cycle with the geographical region, based on a unique combination of knowledge.

Geofutures' new office at 108 Walcot Street, Bath

We’ve always enjoyed the fact that so many sustainability organisations are based in the south west – while also taking our place within the well-developed knowledge economy of Bath. It certainly seems like a natural development for us and we’re excited about working with our Walcot Yard colleagues in future.

Oh – and the MASCo guys certainly know how to throw a party. To celebrate the creation of Walcot Yard and their expansion into their new Bath premises, founder Steve Tomlin and team hosted 500 friends, colleagues and clients to a rocking opening night in May, and of course we (among other local glitterati) were there to welcome them to the city.

Geofutures, Nash Partnership and MASCo directors at the Walcot Yard opening party L-R: Edward Nash (Nash Partnership), Kevin Harris (MASCo Director), Steve Tomlin (MASCo MD), James Hurley (MASCo Director), Mark Thurstain-Goodwin (Geofutures), Ruth Keily (Geofutures) at the MASCo and Walcot Yard opening party, May 2010

More about: MASCo | Nash Partnership

Geofutures is recruiting

Monday, June 7th, 2010

We’re currently recruiting to fill a post of GIS Analyst, full time, permanent, based in central Bath and available immediately. Please check you have the relevant skills and see below for details of how to apply. We can only accept applications from individuals currently eligible to work in the EU.

GIS analyst – central Bath – min £19k according to experience

Have you successfully completed a GIS degree or Masters course? Do you have analytical ability, strong visual sense and a client service ethos? We’re a small but fast-moving GIS company with a vacancy for a qualified GIS analyst to create maps and data layers, manage and analyse spatial data and deliver under pressure on varied client requirements.

No two tasks are the same, and there’s always scope to think laterally, add value, help build client relationships and contribute to the success of a close-knit, committed and informal team. On-job training and mentoring will be given, but you must be technically adept, a fast learner and eager to build and use new skills.

We specialise in providing research, high-level spatial analysis and fast online GIS applications to government, corporate and third-sector clients, helping them to make sustainability decisions. We work across a range of technologies and pride ourselves on creating innovative business tools delivering the best of GI science.

We’re looking for someone who must have:

-  a qualification to degree or masters level in GIS

-  some relevant work experience

- proven delivery strengths

- good working knowledge of databases

- confidence using popular illustrator packages to create visuals

- the ability to present visuals attractively

- competency in thinking through and solving problems independently

- efficient workflow management

- clear and accurate communication skills, both verbal and in writing

- proven teamwork skills

The position is available immediately. Based centrally in the beautiful city of Bath (12 mins walk Bath Spa station), our offices are informal and close to bars, shops etc. We work according to a comprehensive sustainability commitment.

If you think your ambition and this position might match, please submit a CV and an example of a map-based visualisation you have created, accompanied by some brief notes on the challenges this task presented and how you approached it (links to online materials are fine). Send these to: Ruth Keily, Director, Geofutures Ltd at rk@geofutures.com by 18 June 2010.

Geofutures - GIS Web Maps Data Sustainability Research - (+44) (0)1225 788870 - Contact us - Sitemap - Online GIS products - © Copyright 2012