What Kada Research does

Kada Research (legal entity: KADA Research Limited) is a UK and international economic development consultancy founded in 2011 and headquartered in Sheffield, with a secondary office in Gateshead. The firm provides social and economic research, analysis, and advisory services to public, private, and non-profit sector clients, with primary demand coming from UK local authorities, combined authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships, and higher education institutions. Service offerings cover evaluation studies compliant with ERDF/UKSPF funding guidance, strategy development and implementation, sector and cluster analysis, R&D and innovation research, training and employment research, economic analysis and social value assessments, energy and climate change advisory, and business support studies. The company has delivered projects including a 215-business manufacturing survey across four combined authorities, 35-stakeholder innovation consultations for the East Midlands Combined County Authority, and evaluations such as the £42.2m University of Huddersfield Health Innovation programme (Net Present Value £5.41m; benefit cost ratio 4.2:1). The business model is fee-for-service, project-based professional consulting; no software product is offered and no proprietary platform is referenced. Client engagement is acquired through direct commissioning and competitive tendering by public bodies, with named co-delivery partners including GC Insights, Ortus Consulting, Athey Consulting, and NNFCC on specific commissions. The firm is privately held with no disclosed external investors or funding rounds, and is led by Managing Director Karl Dalgleish alongside Study Director Pat Coupar, Study Manager Sophie Negus, and a research team. Kada Research maintains a content and brand presence through its website case studies, blog, the Kada Podcast on YouTube, and LinkedIn, Instagram, and Bluesky accounts.

Name

Kada Research

Legal name

KADA Research

Website

https://kadaresearch.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kada Research is a UK economic development consultancy, founded in 2011, providing social and economic research, evaluation, and strategic advisory services to local authorities, combined authorities, LEPs, and higher education institutions on a project-commissioned basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Economic Development Consultancy

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Policy, Regulatory & Public Affairs Research (BPAHALAF), Research, Evaluation & Program Effectiveness Reporting (EDADAIAM)

Keywords

• Economic development consulting
• Social and economic research
• Programme evaluation services
• Employment and skills strategy
• Sector studies advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Sheffield

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research and Consultancy Services: Kada Research generates revenue through fee-for-service consulting engagements. Projects are commissioned by public sector bodies, local authorities, combined authorities, LEPs, educational institutions, and non-profit organisations for economic research, evaluation, strategy development, and sector analysis. Engagement types include summative assessments, evidence bases, sector studies, and strategy documents.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Kada Research is an economic development consultancy that delivers social and economic research, programme evaluation, sector studies, employment and skills strategies, economic impact assessments, and policy advice for public, private, and non-profit sector clients. Engagements are project-based commissions producing independent evidence-based reports and recommendations, with deep specialisation in local authority, combined authority, and LEP workstreams in the UK.

Product overview

Kada Research is an economic development consultancy providing social and economic research, analysis, and advisory services to public, private, and non-profit sectors. The company offers a range of consulting services including evaluation studies, strategy development and implementation, policy research, sector and cluster analysis, economic analysis and social value assessments, and training and employment research. Their service offerings are organized into practice areas covering evaluation, strategy development, R&D and innovation, training and employment, economic analysis, business support, sector studies, energy and climate change, local authorities support, further and higher education institutions, and third sector work. The company does not appear to offer a software product but rather delivers bespoke research reports, assessments, recommendations, and strategic advice as professional consulting services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Economic Development Consultancy Services Independent social and economic research, analysis, and advisory services for public, private, and non-profit sector clients covering evaluation, strategy development, sector studies, employment and skills research, and economic impact assessments.
• Evaluation Studies Summative and process evaluations compliant with ERDF and UKSPF funding guidance, delivering quantified impact assessments such as Net Present Value and benefit-cost ratio analyses for funded programmes.
• Employment and Skills Strategy Development Co-designed employment and skills strategies for local authorities and combined authorities, such as the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Employment and Skills Strategy 2025-2030, addressing inactivity, skills gaps, and inclusive economic growth.
• Sector Studies and Cluster Analysis Sector-specific market profiles and cluster analyses such as the Yorkshire manufacturing deep dive, the Stoke-on-Trent ceramics sector review, the Chesterfield DRIIVe rail training facility assessment, and the Cogent Anaerobic Digestion market profile.
• Economic Impact Assessments Quantified economic and social impact assessments, including Net Present Value and benefit-cost ratio modelling, used to evidence the value of public sector and skills programmes for funders and stakeholders.

Quantifiable outcome

• Net Present Value of £5.41m generated by the University of Huddersfield Health Innovation programme (benefit cost ratio 4.2:1)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Athey ConsultingminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Kada Research worked in association with Athey Consulting to deliver an economic growth advisory report for Basildon Council on the engineering and manufacturing sector. Kada was the research partner while Athey provided overall advisory and programme management.
• Cogent (Sector Skills Council for Science Based Industry)minorOthers · 1 January 2013Kada Research was commissioned by Cogent (the Sector Skills Council for Science Based Industry) to produce a market profile of the Anaerobic Digestion sector, providing sector intelligence to inform labour market policies.
• NNFCC (Bioeconomy Consultants)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013For the Anaerobic Digestion market profile commissioned by Cogent, Kada Research commissioned the Bioeconomy Consultants NNFCC to provide specialist technical expertise, supplementing Kada's research capabilities with specialist domain knowledge.
• GC InsightscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKada Research partnered with GC Insights to co-deliver the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Employment and Skills Strategy 2025-2030. The collaboration combined Kada's research capabilities with GC Insights' expertise to produce an evidence-led, co-designed strategy.
• Ortus ConsultingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKada and research partner Ortus Consulting were jointly commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent Borough Council to review the ceramics sector's performance and resilience. Ortus contributed alongside Kada in delivering the sector mapping, consultation programme, and co-designed action plan.
• Ortus ConsultingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKada Research worked with Ortus Consulting to conduct a comprehensive deep dive into Yorkshire's manufacturing sector across four combined authorities, leveraging Ortus's research capabilities alongside Kada's sector expertise.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Locality: Locality is a UK membership body supporting community organisations with research, advice, and evaluation services — adjacent to Kada's third-sector and economic development work, with some overlap on place-based research but operating under a non-profit mission model.

Broad incumbents

• Regeneris / Hatch (UK Cities Institute): The Hatch Cities Institute (incorporating former Regeneris capability) delivers UK economic development, regeneration, and infrastructure advisory services for combined authorities and government — a broader incumbent competing with Kada on flagship sector and growth strategy commissions.
• ICF Consulting: ICF is a large global consultancy with a significant UK public sector practice delivering economic analysis, programme evaluation, and energy/climate research — competing with Kada on combined authority and skills-related evaluations but with vastly greater scale and resources.
• Frontier Economics: Frontier Economics is a UK and European economics consultancy providing economic impact analysis, evaluation, and policy advice to public bodies — operating in adjacent evaluation and impact analysis territory, though with a more economics-quant orientation than Kada.

Direct peers

• SQW (part of Begbies Traynor Group): SQW is one of the UK's longest-established economic development and regeneration research consultancies, providing sector studies, evaluations, and strategy advice to LEPs, combined authorities, and local councils — a near-identical service offering and client base to Kada Research.
• WPI Economics: WPI Economics is a UK economics research consultancy providing impact evaluation, policy analysis, and labour market research for government and non-profit clients — overlapping with Kada's economic and social research work, particularly in evaluation and policy.
• Ekosgen: Ekosgen is a specialist UK economic development consultancy delivering economic impact assessments, labour market analysis, sector studies, and evaluations for public sector clients — directly comparable in scope, methodology, and client profile to Kada Research.
• Metro Dynamics: Metro Dynamics is a UK-based economic development and place-based strategy consultancy working with cities, combined authorities, and LEPs on inclusive growth and sector strategy — overlapping heavily with Kada's strategy, evaluation, and sector analysis work.
• York Consulting: York Consulting is a UK research and evaluation consultancy delivering employment, skills, and regeneration evaluations for public sector bodies — a close match to Kada's employment/skills strategy and ERDF/UKSPF evaluation offerings.

Emerging players

• Regeneris Consulting (now part of Hatch): Regeneris was a specialist UK economic development consultancy delivering sector studies and growth strategies for combined authorities and councils, recently integrated into Hatch — a broader engineering and project delivery firm, giving it deeper resources than Kada for similar commissions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kadaresearch
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@KadaResearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kada-research-limited
• Instagraminstagram.com/kadaresearch
• Facebookfacebook.com/kadaresearch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

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 Kada Research