WE DEVELOP INNOVATIVE HIGH IMPACT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.

FOR COUNCILS. FOR REGENERATION AGENCIES. FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISES. FOR YOU.

OUR CLIENTS.

AND PARTNERS WE WORK WITH.

PORTFOLIO.

ACCESS TO FINANCE.

COMMUNITY VENTURE FUND PROJECT.

£135K fund leveraged through GLE oneLondon by using £45K from Westminster City Council to underwrite 50% of bad debt to create the UK's first Shariah compliant finance facility and help 16 residents establish their enterprises. The project focussed on supporting unemployed residents move into self-employment. In developing this project we liaised with the Head of Global Islamic Banking at HSBC, Andrew Robinson MBE at CCLA, Norton Rose, the Regional Manager at CDFA, Faisel Rahman at Fair Finance and Equity Plus. This project included a business coaching element and resulted in advising and assisting over 60 unemployed residents to set up in self-employment.

VITAL REGENERATION PROJECT.

Exciting entrepreneurship project for vulnerable adults. We are unable to disclose details at the moment, but Original Futures has been advising Vital Regeneration on issues relating to supporting unemployed adults on benefits into self-employment, understanding the relevant local, regional and national policy contexts, research guidance and overall project development assistance.

WORK SPACE.

HUB WESTMINSTER VENTURE.

12,000 sq ft of prime real estate transformed into London's largest start-up and social ventures incubator for 1,000 entrepreneurs. Opened in October 2011, Hub Westminster already provides workspace for 250 people, has enabled a £1.7M angel investment to be available for members, hosted 2 start-up accelerator programmes and has been hosting events to support an average of 2,000 entrepreneurs each month. Original Futures assisted Westminster City Council to seed finance the joint venture and secure a 40% shareholding. As part of this process, we collaboratively developed the business plan and now provide hands-on operational assistance in the start-up phase of the venture.

Prime Minister, David Cameron: "Hub Westminster is a brilliant idea and we want to help expand it. I encourage more public bodies to follow Westminster City Council's lead in forming innovative joint ventures to develop support structures like this, delivering economic growth in a self-financing way."

MAIDA HILL PLACE VENTURE.

Two derelict buildings in a high crime area of Harrow Road shopping district: transformed into kitchen incubator space (for renting at affordable pay-as-you go rates to start-up food businesses) and a restaurant incubator space (for renting to multiple pop-up start-up restaurant businesses). Original Futures assisted the Harrow Road Neighbourhood Partnership team at Genesis to develop their business plan with fine detail and form a strategy for developing the concept. Maida Hill Place is now spin out social enterprise from Genesis Housing and has just opened its doors to support local start-ups. The organisation now has 1,500 volunteers within a volunteer time bank scheme (through getting market stall space in return for volunteering their skills and time) to help establish the facility.

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES.

WESTMINSTER'S CREATIVE INDUSTRIES PROJECT.

£130M new sales and investments secured for the local creative industries in Westminster through providing bursaries to 540 creative businesses to develop core business skills, attend overseas trade missions and install industry specific infrastructures. The project has obtained extremely high satisfaction rates. Original Futures was tasked with collaboratively scoping options for supporting the creative industries, basing the project design on a major Creative Industries Study conducted two years beforehand. Original Futures liaised with Design Council, RIBA, UK Screen, HMRC, Skillset, UK Film Council, BPI, Capital Enterprise and led a focus group of small businesses. The result was that we focussed on four industries, with four respective trade bodies, to maximise the use of Westminster's finite resources for the programme. Robbins and Wallace lead on the project management of the bursaries and played an important role in the design stage of the project. BOP Consulting were brought in to provide formative evaluations and guide the delivery. The programme is still running and is currently joint sponsoring a skills development event series with BBC, SKY and Channel 4. Original Futures plays a very active role in performance management and project sustainability activities, and to this end has helped identify and develop sustainability proposals for future support of the creative industries that will create a lasting legacy.

Rt Hon Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries at DCMS: "This is the business support model for other Local Authorities to follow."

SCHOOL FOR CREATIVE STARTUPS PROJECT.

Unique new programme to provide 10 months of intensive start-up training with a network of 135 volunteer creative business mentors to enable 72 start-ups to establish themselves in Westminster's Creative Industries. Original Futures assisted Westminster City Council to facilitate former BBC Dragons Den Investor and Entrepreneur Doug Richard to develop the details of the programme, form marketing channels through the University of the Arts to raise awareness in the 40,000 alumni network and provide workspace at Hub Westminster. The programme is now developing self-financing approaches to enable its second year of operation later in 2012.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP.

VOLUNTEER BUSINESS NETWORKING PROJECT.

80 small businesses are receiving 3 hours of pro-bono business mentoring, provided by 40 mentors facilitated in a new programme to increase the offering of Westminster Business Council. Original Futures assisted Westminster City Council to develop a project which encouraged and facilitated Westminster Business Council to establish this project, which implements he Government's policies for encouraging volunteer business mentors at a local level. The programme has been a great fit for Westminster Business Council and has been extremely well received. Original Futures is now performance managing the delivery of this project and assisting Westminster Business Council plan for sustainability on this project.

NEIGHBOURHOOD ENTERPRISE PROJECT.

Pan-borough programme linking together for the first time five partners who are demonstrating Westminster City Council's priority to provide a clear pathway for unemployed residents into self-employment. Original Futures worked on the project design and budget allocation to facilitate a partnership approach with GLE oneLondon, AMF, Cross River Partnership, PDT and Westminster Libraries. Original Futures looked after top-level performance management for this and at the end provided sustainability planning.

INTENSIVE ENTERPRISE COACHING PROJECT.

Building on the learning from the Neighbourhood Enterprise Project, Original Futures helped Westminster City Council sustain the targeted support for residents from all backgrounds with entrepreneurial aspirations. We led on the project design of a highly specialised project to help over 45 residents move into self-employment, with at least 15 being supported to remain in self-employment for over 12-months. As part of this project design, we developed a payment by results structure, with suitable terms for delivery partners. We also incorporated the delivery of the project into the Business Information Points to ensure it becomes an easily accessible resource for residents. We were successful in raising 50% match funding from European Social Fund resources via London Councils. Original Futures worked closely with GLE to competitively commission the opportunity and now play a role in top-level performance management of the project which is led by PDT.

BUSINESS INFORMATION POINTS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.

Two year project to sustain and improve the successful Business Information Points in four Westminster Libraries, which provide high quality business information, events and space for workshops to 15,000 people each year. The project design included developing a detailed results driven project that has already enabled the libraries to develop strategic partnerships with WBC and HMRC, who now run events at the libraries. It's also enabled an increase in number of events from 1 per month to 4 per month. Original Futures also plays a performance management role and has collaboratively developed self-financing plans that could be implemented to reduce the reliance of the project on Council funding.

YOUTH ENTERPRISE PROJECT.

Innovative project that has supported 350 young people mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds to engage in enterprise. It has helped 45 get jobs, on to training courses and enter self-employment. The project comprises publication experts supporting young people to write, take photos and interview people for a bi-annual youth magazine called The Cut with a circulation of 10,000. Original Futures designed a project with the Council to enable continued delivery of the project, facilitate 30% match funding and generate a new income stream through the formation of an online version of the magazine which is already receiving 13,000 visitors per month. Original Futures now play a performance management role and has developed a sustainability plan for the project so that it can be transformed into a social enterprise.

NESTA CREATIVE COUNCILS PROJECT.

Stage 2 proposal development for an initiative that will facilitate Councils to radically transform their approach to supporting economic development in their local areas over the coming 10 years. Original Futures is playing a project design role within a multi-agency team. To date work has included facilitating focus groups with start-ups, meeting with partners to scope out their needs, review of legal structures and thinking through of procurement implications.

NEW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR REFUGEES PROJECT.

Prior to Original Futures, one of the economic development assignments led by consultant Chris Peacock, was the project design of a Chamber of Commerce for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon for a humanitarian organisation. This principally included the encouraged the use of anonymous employment through a job directory, an Islamic compliant financing product with various incentives and penalties - which was trialled, encouragement of use of under-employed businesses through creation of a business yellow pages and cluster development through umbrella trade organisations to secure international sales for local exportable products. Work also included application of a ISO9001 Quality Assurance system in order to enable the organisation to replicate itself.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SUPPORT.

VOLUNTARY ACTION WESTMINSTER PROJECT

Exploratory project involving assisting Voluntary Action Westminster to trial a paid-for service in the field of supporting local social enterprises to increase their commercial income. To trial this approach, Original Futures provided project development services for four social enterprises including Beauchamp Lodge and Real Action through a series of one-to-one coaching sessions and multiple days of hands-on assistance. Marketing was a key requirement, so to this end, Original Futures assisted clients to develop their marketing strategies, by identifying customer trends through analysing twelve-months of sales invoices. Original Futures then developed case-studies for this work to enable Voluntary Action Westminster help sustain this new service offering. Original Futures gained insight into common themes for social enterprise in how they generally earn commercial income - namely hiring of space and training programmes.

PRA SERVICES PROJECT

Industry and market research, including market segmentation, primary research, literature studies, situational analysis, trend analysis and a business development recommendation for PRA Services. Original Futures played a project design role for an intermediate labour market social enterprise project assisting people with long-term psychological health conditions to engage in enterprise, add value to their lives and for some to gain experience for becoming more competitive in the job market.

SERVICES.

Original Futures provides a highly specialised service of developing economic development projects. The projects we develop are characterised by being highly innovative, intelligent, politically appropriate, commercial, collaborative and make a high impact. Unlike most other companies, Original Futures provides a client-side service, supported by a highly matched curated team of associates.

	PROJECT DESIGN. Original Futures is a specialist in designing projects collaboratively with clients. Activities include: Background research with local businesses. Desktop policy reviews. Maintenance of a resource library of articles, policies and research papers. Partnership formation and formalisation. Influencing non-financial partners. Budget drafting. High speed business plan development. Acquiring specific legal commissioning/investing advice. Project proposal writing. Background rationale paper writing. Outcome and output design. Extensive risk analysis work. Fund raising from private investors, internal discretionary funds, resources           statutory institutions and foundations. Assisting clients to gain political buy-in and endorsement. Levering match funding from all sources possible.
	PROJECT COMMISSIONING. Once a project has been designed, signed-off and financial resources have been approved, Original Futures assists clients to commission (or make commercial investments as loans, equity or revenue sharing debt) in the projects. Activities include: Background research with local businesses. Using solicitors to guide the process where appropriate. Drafting, editing and refinement of briefing notes and cabinet member reports. Delivery partner specification writing. Procurement report writing. Tendering competitive tenders. Negotiation of contracts Robust delivery agreement writing, with template performance reports. Overseeing counter-proposals and gaining consensus and signatures.
	PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT. After a delivery partner has been awarded the contract, Original Futures works with clients to provide top-level performance management of the projects. Activities include: Activating delivery partners and strategic partners Convening, facilitating and servicing inception meetings, performance review           meetings, troubleshooting meetings Following up on delivery partner's committed actions Email response drafting. Managing the Requests for Changes to contracts process and meetings. Monthly management reports. Internal updates for budget holders. Weekly action lists both for Original Futures consultants and our clients, to facilitate            high levels of efficiency and remaining on top of tasks. Gathering data and presenting internal updates to politicians, sponsors and            other stakeholders. Managing invoice processing, shepherding through punctual payment. Maintaining financial day books to provide live book keeping and analysis. Developing of information systems and management. obtaining            formative evaluations and local economic statistical updates. Managing budget changes, proposing new allocations, and changing contracts. Maintaining one-page summaries to support communication efforts in celebrating            success of projects. Driving continued momentum.to maximize results.
	PROJECT SUSTAINING. Original Futures helps clients to explore self-financing potentials for their projects, as well as opportunities for alternative funding. Activities include: Identification and development sustainability solutions such as exploitation of           intellectual property through how-to-packs and facilitating consulting services. Development of trade market events. Development of business incubation workspace ventures. Guiding and incentivising delivery partners to increase their income from other            funding sources. Pitching for further finance from clients' budget holders. Guiding delivery partners in using their existing team, clients and resources to develop            new income streams Keeping a continual eye on potential commercial exploitation of projects. Reviewing 'slow burn' approaches to enable extension of the project's time frame            and depth of impact. Using Original Futures' and clients' professional networks to quickly gain            industry expert advice on ideas. Speaking with potential financiers and preparing potential investment opportunities. Gaining endorsement from key players. Identifying and forming entrepreneurial teams. Facilitating strong advertising and public relation campaigns to            gain commercial revenues. Commissioning industry experts to road test the idea with their professional networks            and to carry out analysis of concepts. Quickly developing robust business plan, with full financials and risk assessments. Raising funds through multiple sources including investors, internal discretionary            funds, public resources and foundations. Supporting the gaining of political buy-in and endorsement.

ABOUT US.

COMPANY

Original Futures Ltd was incorporated in 2008 and has continued to build an impressive consultancy portfolio. In this time, the company has provided 2,151 consulting hours to assist 9 clients to develop 19 projects with a total value of £2.8M in partnership with over 16 delivery partners.

These projects have resulted in raising £505K match funding, supported 81,387 people and businesses, establishing a 12,000 sq ft workspace joint venture and securing £130m new sales and investments for the local economy.

Original Futures exists to make a tangible difference in the financial side of people's lives in local communities. Our work sits alongside other efforts that make tangible differences to the environmental, health, education, spiritual and housing side of people's lives.

Unlike many economic development firms, Original Futures only works on the project development and performance management, but not the delivery. Likewise, the company focusses on soft-infrastructures, as opposed to hard-infrastructures, and is dedicated to developing and supporting business support platforms.

Original Futures Ltd is committed to compliance with the Institute for Economic Development (MIED)'s Code of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct. The team also comply with the " Seven Principles of Public Life" (the 'Nolan Principles') including: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty and Leadership.

A high level of cover including £5M public Liability insurance and £10M Employers' Liability insurance is provided by QBE. We have London offices, although the nature of our work means we spend 85% of our time at client premises.

In addition, the company maintains a Health and Safety Policy, Environmental Policy, Quality Management Statement, Ethical Sourcing Policy and Equal Opportunities Policy. Original Futures Ltd's accounts are managed by auditors and accountants Bennett & Co.

PEOPLE

	CHRIS PEACOCK BSc MA(RCA) DIC MIED Original Futures is led by consultant Chris Peacock who is a Member of The Institute for Economic Development (MIED). His projects have won innovation awards from Lord Snowdon, Help the Aged and Dyson; featuring in BBC News amongst other media publications. Chris Peacock works across all areas of Original Futures' service spectrum, but is particularly strong in project design and project sustainability. His natural strengths are activating, futurising, achieving, maximising and communication. Here's a short bio: Inspired to work in urban development after gap-year in Nepal. First Class Physics Degree (2000) from the University of Southampton,            a popular subject those interested in economics. Business developer for IBM Global Business Services giving a grounding in the           world of commerce and professional working (2000-02) Urban developer in Middle East assisting organisations raise finance, replicate            and develop services (2002-04). Advanced project design and innovation skills developed through Masters in Industrial            Design Engineering at the Royal College of Art (2004-06). Deliverer of the Community Venture Fund assisting over 60 residents to set            up new businesses (2006-10). Formation of HandSteady Ltd to take a product that Chris Peacock           invented to market (2010-present). Formation and expansion of Original Futures Ltd (2008-present) as detailed            on this web site.
	JOHN FLETCHER MChem MSP John Fletcher is an associate consultant. He worked within central government for 11 years prior to moving into consulting last year. Between 2006 and 2011, John Fletcher worked with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to develop and steer two multmillion pound programmes involving the commissioning of business services. As an excellent policy researcher with in-depth knowledge of Central Government, John is able to quickly build business cases and guide project design. His speed of delivery makes John a great value for money professional for our clients. His briefing note writing is exemplary as he has had much experience in organising many Ministerial visits to meet with local businesses. John Fletcher has advanced project management skills and is a registered practitioner in Managing Successful Programmes (MSP). He is also able to manage small teams and in Original Futures plays an important role in Project Design, Project Commissioning and Performance Management. Here's a short bio: First Class Chemistry Masters (2000) from the University of Oxford. Former Civil Service Fast Streamer. Started in DEFRA as a Policy Advisor (2000) gathering data to support           EU negotiations and securing favourable United Nations agreements. Moved into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2002), followed by the Cabinet           Office (2003) to lead on UK negotiations for a draft EU Treaty and collaborated across           Government to implement UK's European Union Presidency priorities. Returned to DEFRA (2006) to secure and manage two programmes with £30m+ p.a.            expenditure involving the commissioning of business services. Formed 'The Green Convener' company to provide consulting services (2011).
	LIBBY SCARLETT BA Libby is an associate of Original Futures and provides graphic design services. She’s a specialist in info-graphics, helping clients to capture ideas in clear and compelling graphics that gain greater buy-in from financiers, stakeholders and teams. Libby's ability to draw alongside clients and their partners to collaboratively develop graphics for proposals, reports, promotional material and conference presentations makes Libby a valuable offer for our clients. Libby's portfolio is varied and includes the following:: First Class Degree in Design & Art Direction from Manchester School of Art (2009). Designed the publication and info-graphics for The Innovation Unit’s Squeezed Britain           Report (January 2012). Led focus groups and facilitation workshops for Uscreates toresearch and present           data for people with various health conditions in London, Essex, Portsmouth and the           Wirral (November 2011 to March 2012). Developed visual concepts and created catalogue for the “Reading for Well Being”            conference organised by The Reader in Liverpool (April 2011). Libby is an active visual artist and has developed and exhibited works including the           themes of Urban Development, Older Adult Loneliness and the Love of Reading in the           UK and Italy. £30m+ p.a. Research, idea generation and creative communication work at Droog Lab in            Amsterdam (February to December 2010).
	WIDER TEAM Original Futures has a hand-picked team that will be the ideal resource for clients in project development services. In addition to John Fletcher and Libby Scarlett, we've just taken on 3 more consultants, as follows: Social Impact Consultant to help clients work out financial calculations            for the economic added value of their work Virtual Services Office Manager to provide secretariat services for our clients. Senior Media Advisor with 35 years' experience as a broadcaster at the BBC, who'll            be able to assist client's gain editorial and broadcast exposure for their projects.

CONTACT US

Original Futures is committed to expanding its consultancy portfolio and remains extremely active in sourcing the next suitable project. If you would like to meet up to discuss your requirements and share your and our learning then please email enquiries@originalfutures.com or call us at 020 8133 3892. Our registered offices are 16-18 Upland Road, London SE22 9GG, UK. WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU.