The North West’s Manufacturing Advisory Service has operated since 2002. An enhanced service – the Agenda for Change Programme – delivered by The Manufacturing Institute and from 2003 and assisted more than 2,500 businesses.
We were commissioned by NWDA in late 2008 to develop the specification for the successor MAS, supporting the Agency as it developed a funding bid and providing advice about the likely costs, outputs and impacts of its proposals. The appointment resulted from our interim evaluation of the Agenda for Change Programme. We had provided a comprehensive assessment of the service focusing on the impacts it was generating for the resources invested in it, together with recommendations for how it might be strengthened.
A successful procurement of a £20 million service was completed in 2009.
Development of the Specification for the Future Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), North West England.
North West Development Agency