20 Years of BiGGAR Economics

This month marks the 20th anniversary of BiGGAR Economics and so is a good time to reflect on what we have achieved in the last two decades. The driving motivation for founding BiGGAR Economics was to have a positive economic and social impact. This has been increasingly important in recent years, particularly when the whole team identified “meaningful impact” as the purpose of BiGGAR Economics. This purpose guides us when we decide which work to pursue, when we recruit , when we engage with suppliers and other stakeholders and when we have to make difficult decisions.

The purpose of delivering meaningful impact motivated me as founder and owner of the company to transfer shares in the company to the team, so all colleagues are now also shareholders. This recognises that delivering meaningful impact requires a team effort.

As advisors on the wellbeing economy, we also realised that we could have meaningful impact by thinking about wellbeing within BiGGAR Economics. This does not mean taking action to mitigate harm done by poor working conditions. Rather it means that we aspire to provide meaningful, satisfying work and to have working practices that enhance rather than reduce our wellbeing – and it motivates us to think about how we can enhance the wellbeing of others. Thinking about wellbeing gives us a framework for continuous improvement.

Have we delivered meaningful impact? The best answer to that comes from telling the stories where we know we have.

One is our response to Covid-19. When the pandemic struck we were working for several clients who were at the sharp end of the economic costs – and so like many others there was a genuine fear for the future of our business. On the other hand we knew that such an unprecedented economic shock would mean that our expertise would be needed. Our prudent financial management meant that we knew we could survive even a sharp downturn and so reassured the team that security of their employment would continue to be a very high priority. We also contacted our suppliers and committed to continue to pay for services – including those that could not be provided due to Covid restrictions – so that they would be in a better position to retain their employees.

We can also demonstrate meaningful impact in several sectors of the economy and in public policy.

Our work in the universities sector has done much to help the sector itself and governments in several countries to understand how universities and their innovation systems drive economic growth and social progress.

In renewable energy we have worked with many companies co-developing initiatives that have maximised their local and regional economic, social and community impacts.

We continue to look for opportunities to deliver meaningful impact. In recent times that has included working with several companies, industry bodies and government agencies to better understand what the wellbeing economy means for them – and how they can increase their contribution.

Over these 20 years, we have learned from our successes as well as when things have not worked out as we would have liked. Thank you to everyone who has chosen to work with us to deliver meaningful impact over the years.

We look forward to the next 20!