Drafting support for i-Reach Strategic Outline Case to Belfast City deal

Steer Economic Development was commissioned by Queen’s University Belfast to provide economic forecasting and bid-writing support to its five case Strategic Outline Case, which was seeking £50 million from the Belfast City Deal.

The bid was for investment in i-REACH, a mixed-use facility forming the centre of Northern Ireland’s R&D and commercial clinical trials offering. The facility proposed to co-locate academic, NHS/Health Care, and business focused on Life Science R&D in offices, lab, and incubation/co-production spaces.

Steer Economic Development’s case-making support involved the following workstreams:

• Developing a robust quantitative evidence base for the Economic and Financial Cases to demonstrate the feasibility and Value for Money represented by the new facility;
• Drafting the Management and Commercial Cases based on Steer Economic Development’s bid-making experience and understanding of ‘what works’ in operating such facilities;
• Providing critical review and drafting of the Strategic Case, and critical review of the assumptions underpinning the Financial Case;
• Responding to initial comments from external Deal Reviewers in Whitehall, and developing the case for further bidding rounds; and
• Meeting with the client in Northern Ireland to discuss development and options.

Steer Economic Development was recommissioned to further support QUB to progress the bid to the next stage of City Deal funding approval.