NEF Consulting

What NEF Consulting does

NEF Consulting is the consultancy arm of the New Economics Foundation, established in 2008 and registered as a private limited company in England and Wales (Company Number 6570398). Headquartered in London with 11-50 employees, the firm delivers strategic consultancy, training and capacity building, and evaluation and impact assessment services to UK public sector bodies, community organisations, charitable foundations, and progressive businesses focused on sustainable economic transitions, climate change adaptation, and social value creation.

The firm's service portfolio rests on three pillars: Strategic Consultancy (local transformation, labour market analysis, and sustainable development/climate change advisory); Training & Support (briefings and workshops on Theory of Change, community power building, commissioning for outcomes, and co-production); and Evaluation & Impact Assessment, applying codified methodologies including Social Return on Investment (SROI), Local Multiplier 3 (LM3), Multi-Criteria Appraisal (MCA), and Social and Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis (SCBA). Service delivery is project-based, typically structured as multi-year contracts, with no publicly disclosed pricing. The firm does not operate a software platform, API, or mobile application; its core technology stack is not disclosed and appears to be conventional professional services tooling.

NEF Consulting monetises through direct consultancy engagements, acquiring clients via referrals, the reputational visibility of its parent think tank, and its own content marketing (website, email newsletter, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube). Customer logos span NHS England, West Midlands Combined Authority, Hampshire County Council, Coventry City Council, Brighton & Hove, Crown Estate, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Lambeth Together, WWF, Fairtrade Foundation, Marine Stewardship Council, Soil Association, British Land, Balfour Beatty, and others, with select international projects in Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Canada. The firm is wholly owned by the New Economics Foundation and has no external investors, funding rounds, or acquisition activity on record.

Name

NEF Consulting

Legal name

NEF Consulting

Website

https://nef-consulting.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NEF Consulting is the consultancy arm of the New Economics Foundation, providing strategic advisory, training, and impact assessment services to UK public sector bodies, NGOs, and progressive businesses on sustainable economy and social value initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Management Consulting Services (541618), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainability & ESG Consulting (BPAHACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Sector & Policy Consulting (BPAHACAN), Change Management & Transformation Consulting (BPAHAGAC)

Keywords

• Strategic consultancy services
• Impact assessment consulting
• Sustainable economy advisory
• Training capacity building
• Social return investment

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consultancy: Customised interdisciplinary consultancy programmes providing targeted support to public sector and other organisations on sustainable economy initiatives.
2. Training and Capacity Building: Briefings, training sessions, and workshops delivered to local government leaders and their teams on topics including Theory of Change, co-production, and commissioning for outcomes.
3. Research Services: Research conducted for public sector clients in areas such as local economic change and sustainability.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NEF Consulting delivers project-based strategic consultancy, tailored training and capacity-building programmes, and evaluation/impact assessment services for public sector, community, charitable and progressive business clients. Engagements cover local economic transformation, labour market analysis, sustainable development and climate change, Theory of Change development, commissioning for outcomes, and impact measurement methodologies including SROI, LM3, MCA and SCBA.

Product overview

NEF Consulting is the consultancy arm of the New Economics Foundation, offering a portfolio of three interconnected consulting services: Strategic Consultancy (tailored interdisciplinary advisory support for public sector organisations covering local transformation, labour market analysis, and climate change), Training & Support (briefings and capacity-building programmes including community power building, Theory of Change, commissioning for outcomes, and co-production), and Evaluation & Impact Assessment (measurement methodologies including Social Return on Investment, Theory of Change, Local Multiplier 3, Multi-Criteria Appraisal, and Social/Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis). The services are delivered by multidisciplinary teams combining expertise from public, private, and not-for-profit sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategic Consultancy Tailored interdisciplinary programmes of targeted consultancy support for public sector and other organisations, covering local transformation, labour market analysis, and sustainable development and climate change advisory.
• Training & Support Briefings for local government leaders and tailored training programmes for their teams covering community power building, Theory of Change development, commissioning for outcomes, co-production and engaging communities.
• Evaluation & Impact Assessment Impact measurement and assessment services including Social Return on Investment (SROI), Theory of Change, Measuring Local Economic Impact (LM3), Multi-Criteria Appraisal (MCA), and Social and Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis (SCBA).

Named customers22 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• New Economics FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNEF Consulting is the consultancy arm of the New Economics Foundation (neweconomics.org). The New Economics Foundation works with people to ignite change from below and carries out rigorous research to fight for change at the top. NEF Consulting leverages NEF's research, methodologies, and thought leadership to deliver consultancy services.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Forum for the Future: UK sustainability charity and advisory working with public, private and third-sector organisations on sustainable economy transitions — highly comparable mission and customer base to NEF Consulting.
• Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE): UK charity providing advice, research, and training on sustainable energy and climate to communities and local authorities — closely comparable to NEF Consulting's sustainable development and climate training work.
• Pro Bono Economics: UK charity providing economic analysis and impact evaluation to the voluntary sector, including SROI-style work — overlaps directly with NEF Consulting's charity and community organisation evaluation offerings.
• Eunomia Research & Consulting: UK environmental and sustainability consultancy advising public and private sector clients on policy, impact assessment, and sustainable development — overlapping with NEF Consulting's climate change and environmental SCBA work.
• New Philanthropy Capital (NPC): UK think tank and consultancy advising charities and funders on impact measurement and strategy — a direct peer in the social value and impact advisory space serving the same third-sector clients.
• Sancroft: London-based sustainability and ESG consultancy serving corporates and public bodies on strategy, policy, and impact assessment — closely comparable to NEF Consulting's sustainability strategy and impact evaluation practice.
• Shared Impact: UK-based specialist consultancy focused on Social Return on Investment (SROI) and impact measurement, directly overlapping with NEF Consulting's SROI, Theory of Change, and SCBA evaluation offerings for the charity and public sectors.

Broad incumbents

• Baringa Partners: London-headquartered independent consultancy with established energy, sustainability, and public sector practices; comparable in client profile and advisory style though operating at materially larger scale.
• PwC UK Sustainability and Climate Change Practice: Major consultancy with a large UK sustainability, ESG, and public sector advisory practice that increasingly competes with NEF Consulting on social value and sustainability mandates for public bodies.
• Anthesis Group: Large global sustainability consultancy with deep UK public and private sector engagement in ESG strategy and impact assessment; competes with NEF Consulting on larger sustainability mandates but with a broader portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nefconsulting

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NEF Consulting