What Bath Social & Development Research (Bath SDR) does

Bath Social & Development Research (Bath SDR) is a small not-for-profit consultancy headquartered in Bath, United Kingdom, founded in 2015 by Professor James Copestake and Fiona Remnant — the chief authors of the Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP). The company provides qualitative impact evaluation services to international development organisations, NGOs, multilateral agencies, government bodies, and corporate social impact programmes, with completed projects spanning Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the UK.

QuIP is the firm's core product: a non-experimental, qualitative approach to impact assessment that uses outcome-led stakeholder interviews and a 'blindfolding' technique to reduce confirmation bias, combined with causal mapping to identify drivers of change. Bath SDR delivers QuIP through three linked service lines: consultancy (commissioning and managing complete studies via an in-house team and a global network of trained associates), structured training (Lead Evaluator, Field Researcher, and Analyst courses priced at £500–£750+VAT), and an extensive free QuIP Resources Library of over 80 methodological guides, case studies, and translations. Analysis is performed using software from its sister company, Causal Map Ltd, which provides qualitative coding and visualisation tools developed in partnership with Bath SDR.

The business model is professional services, with consultancy as the primary revenue stream on a quote-based, multi-year contract basis, complemented by fixed-price training and a non-profit mandate to reinvest all surplus into dissemination. There are no external funding rounds or parent-company ownership; the firm is privately held by its founders and non-executive directors. Customer concentration is low, with named clients including UNICEF, the World Bank, Save the Children, the ILO, Tearfund, BBC Media Action, Diageo, Fairtrade Foundation, and Opportunity International. Strategic priorities evident in the input data include geographic and vertical diversification, ecosystem expansion via Causal Map Ltd, and methodology adoption through partnerships with Better Evaluation, Intrac, and 60 Decibels.

Name

Bath Social & Development Research (Bath SDR)

Legal name

Bath Social & Development Research Ltd

Website

https://bathsdr.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Bath Social & Development Research (Bath SDR) is a UK not-for-profit consultancy that delivers the proprietary Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP) — providing qualitative impact evaluation, training, and causal mapping analysis to NGOs, multilaterals, governments, and corporate social impact programmes globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Evaluation Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) & Reporting for Donor Programs (BPADAOAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Donor Coordination, Monitoring & Evaluation (MEL) Programs (BPADABAN)

Keywords

• Qualitative impact evaluation
• Social impact assessment
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Causal mapping analysis
• Development research consultancy

Headquarters

HQ city

Bath

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel

Revenue model

1. Consultancy Services: Complete QuIP study subcontracting for organizations, including study design, data collection through trained researchers globally, and analysis. Primary revenue stream.
2. Training Services: Online and face-to-face training on QuIP methodology, including Lead Evaluator courses, Researcher training, and Analyst coding courses. Training offered before organizations embark on QuIP studies.
3. Non-profit Reinvestment: As a non-profit organization, all surplus is reinvested in dissemination and development activities that make QuIP more accessible to organizations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bath SDR provides QuIP consultancy, training, and resources for qualitative impact evaluation. It commissions and manages full-cycle QuIP studies for development organisations, governments, and foundations, and delivers structured training (Lead Evaluator, Field Researcher, and Analyst courses) to build practitioner capacity in the methodology. A free public library of guidelines, briefing papers, and case studies supports dissemination of the proprietary QuIP approach across the international development sector.

Product overview

Bath SDR offers a unified methodology portfolio anchored by the Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP), a non-experimental qualitative impact assessment approach that uses stakeholder interviews, blindfolding techniques, and causal mapping to identify drivers of change. The QuIP methodology is delivered through three linked service lines: consultancy (commissioning complete QuIP studies via an in-house team and a global network of trained evaluators), structured training (Lead Evaluator online course at £500, Field Researcher training at £750/group, and Analyst Support), and a freely accessible QuIP Resources Library. The company's sister company, Causal Map Ltd, provides the accompanying Causal Map software used for qualitative data coding and visualisation. Bath SDR does not offer a standalone software product; its offering is a consultancy and training service built entirely around the QuIP methodology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• QuIP (Qualitative Impact Protocol) The Qualitative Impact Protocol is a non-experimental, qualitative approach to impact assessment that gathers stakeholder narratives about drivers of change, employing causal mapping and blindfolding techniques to reduce confirmation bias. It is the core methodology underpinning all of Bath SDR's consultancy and training services, designed for NGOs, multilaterals, governments, foundations, and researchers evaluating social impact programmes.
• QuIP Consultancy Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 100 evaluations conducted across multiple sectors and geographies
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Causal Map LtdcoreTechnology or IntegrationBath SDR is a sister company of Causal Map Ltd, a new online research tool developed for coding, analysing and visualising causal information. Bath SDR staff and advisors developed the software. Bath SDR uses Causal Map for all QuIP data analysis and directs training participants to the software.
• University of Bath - Centre for Development StudiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBirthplace of QuIP methodology. James Copestake is Professor of International Development at University of Bath. Collaborative research relationship including Assessing Rural Transformations project. Book co-authored with Centre for Development Studies.
• 60 DecibelsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered to support 60dB in adapting QuIP methodology to suit their lean evaluation approach. 60dB added Lean QuIP to their evaluation suite of tools for remote, rapid data collection.
• World ConcernminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWorld Concern commissioned Bath SDR for evaluation of their One Village Transformed (OVT) programme. Collaboration included evaluation design, data collection through Edessa Research Consultants, and analysis using QuIP methodology.
• Radiant Global InsightsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerFormerly Edessa Research Consultants, now part of Radiant Global Insights. Conducted QuIP evaluation for World Concern under Bath SDR guidance.
• Better EvaluationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQuIP methodology summarized and published on Better Evaluation website as part of their methods database for global evaluation community.
• IntracminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublished step-by-step guide to QuIP methodology, increasing visibility and accessibility of the approach within evaluation community.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Itad: Itad is a specialist international development monitoring and evaluation consultancy with a similarly broad donor and government client base (DFID, FCDO, Gates Foundation). It is a direct competitor for large MEL frameworks and theory-of-change evaluations.
• Oxford Policy Management: Oxford Policy Management is a development economics and evaluation consultancy that runs large-scale impact evaluations across Africa and Asia, overlapping with Bath SDR on donor-funded qualitative and mixed-methods studies.
• 60 Decibels: 60 Decibels is a lean impact measurement firm for social enterprises and investors and a stated partner of Bath SDR (they adapted QuIP into 'Lean QuIP'), making them direct peers in rapid qualitative impact evaluation.
• Social Impact: Social Impact is a global development consulting firm offering MEL, evaluation, and learning services to USAID, DFID, and foundations, directly competing for the same donor-funded evaluation mandates as Bath SDR.
• Verian (formerly Kantar Public): Verian is a public-policy research and evaluation consultancy that works with UK government departments and international donors; it is both a customer (Home Office Safer Streets Fund) and a direct competitor for public-sector impact evaluations.
• TANGO International: TANGO International is a consultancy specializing in food security, livelihoods, and resilience monitoring and evaluation, often working with USAID and WFP - adjacent to Bath SDR's rural livelihoods and food security studies.

Broad incumbents

• Mathematica: Mathematica is a large US-based research and evaluation firm spanning social policy, health, and international development; it competes for the same donor-funded evaluation contracts at greater scale and broader methodological scope.

Regional players

• Institute of Development Studies (IDS): IDS is a UK-based global development research and learning organization that conducts qualitative impact research and method development; it overlaps with Bath SDR's academic roots and methods-development work, though more often as a research partner than competitor.

Others

• Better Evaluation: Better Evaluation is an open global methods library and community for evaluators; QuIP is published on its platform, making it an enabler/peer in disseminating Bath SDR's methodology to the wider MEL community.

Emerging players

• Causal Map Ltd: Causal Map Ltd is Bath SDR's sister company, providing the qualitative causal mapping software used in every QuIP study; it is a partial peer in the analysis tooling layer and a potential competitor if it expands into full-service evaluation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/fiona-remnant

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Bath Social & Development Research (Bath SDR)