Business Case Consultancy & Economic Advisory

Sweco’s business case consultants have a strong track record of developing compelling business cases, and economic assessments for funding submissions that help turn transport, environmental, placemaking and development visions into operational reality. Our fully compliant appraisals provide the evidence required to secure funding and obtain support.

We can support with all aspects of strategic, outline and full business case development. Our team has the skill and technical capability to collaborate with all parties to identify challenges and opportunities, develop objectives, undertake multi-criteria assessment, assess economic impact and carry out post-implementation monitoring.

Working closely with all stakeholders, we develop comprehensive appraisals for a wide variety of projects that go beyond – and challenge – established guidance to deliver innovative and persuasive evidence to support projects.

Our collective ‘team of teams’ expertise gives us the capability and capacity to deliver end-to-end services, helping our clients elevate projects by ensuring the equitable consideration of various competing elements such as the appraisal of environmental and carbon impacts, the accounting of financial impacts via the estimation of costs and modelling of revenue, and the evaluation of welfare, wider and transformational economic impacts, while also providing risk management, stakeholder engagement/consultation and procurement advice where necessary

At Sweco we make a meaningful difference by prioritising the building of strong interpersonal relationships with our clients. This commitment enables us to truly understand your challenges and opportunities, fostering solutions driven by the right technical expertise. Our Business Case Consultancy team pushes boundaries, striving to support our clients in delivering aspirations and transforming their societies, all underpinned by a strong understanding of the difficulties associated with funding.

Martin Sellman Technical Manager

Our goals

  1. Ensure your are in the best position to secure financial support/funding for projects in an ever-challenging economic environment – through providing advice around affordability and deliverability, and funding sources available.
  2. Ensure your schemes are in alignment with the latest evolving government guidance, whether that be the Department for Transport’s Transport Analysis Guidance, Transport Scotland’s Scottish Transport Analysis Guidance, or HM Treasury’s Green Book, among others.

In addition to our core transportation business case expertise, we add value to design, civil engineering, air quality, decarbonisation, energy, water projects by…

  1. Taking complex and technical design/proposals and translating these into a compelling case for the scheme, considering policy, undertaking cost benefit analysis, outlining deliverability, and presenting key risks associated with the project.
  2. Providing expertise in funding, and our understanding of the requirements associated with applying for funding.  
  3. Inputting into the inception and optioneering process, enabling an all-encompassing multi-criteria assessment to be undertaken, whereby financial and economic (including social and environmental) impacts are considered at the forefront of the project. 

Partnering with Sweco means the full breadth of operational, economic, social, and environmental impacts of proposed schemes are comprehensively understood and appreciated. Our unique holistic approach and knowhow provides our clients with a clear case for change, and evidence-led rationale for the progression and delivery of projects.  

Case study: 10MW Hydrogen Connectrolyser Feasibility & Environmental Study

In this pioneering study, Sweco provided evidence and delivered key insights into the practicalities of local hydrogen ‘hubs’, specifically targeting a UK knowledge gap whilst directly addressing the client’s challenges in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Our digital difference

The team has extensive expertise in a variety of industry-standard appraisal software packages such as TUBA, COBALT, WITA, QUADRO, and AMAT – which allows the team to undertake the thorough appraisal of a diverse range of transport projects whether that’s a highways, placemaking, or active travel scheme among many other types.  

The development and use of Sweco’s own in house accessibility tool ‘PUNTA’ (Processor of Urban Neighbourhood Transport Accessibility) provides an additional and highly bespoke dimension to the team’s capability in terms of scheme appraisal of accessibility-based interventions. 

The continual maturity of our active travel and place-making economic model, also puts us at the forefront of appraising place-based schemes, which to date suffer from a lack of guidance and so we are breaking new ground with this economic model that could be deployed in any rural or urban location throughout the UK.  

Lastly, we are currently undertaking an automation improvement study where we are identifying areas of automation which we are hoping to implement later in 2024. 

Case study: Integrated Impact Assessment innovation for Accessible Ayr

To support Ayrshire Roads Alliance decision-making for significant investment across Ayr town centre, Sweco’s Business Case Consultancy team identified a clear gap within the appraisal industry with respect to the established guidance available around understanding and demonstrating the direct and indirect impacts of potential urban realm schemes.

The case for sustainability

Our business case consultants strive to be cognisant of the demands of all transport users within any appraisal it undertakes, whether that’s pedestrians, vehicles, cyclists, public transport users, or freight. We challenge and push our clients towards multi-modal interventions, and the reduction in the reliance on the traditional private vehicle, thereby we are future proofing and improving the resilience of urban and rural areas. 

The team are experts in assessing and quantifying sustainability-based projects and impacts from a range of interventions, such as air quality, noise, carbon, water, landscape, and energy. We are capable of assessing and quantifying impacts, while also accounting for potential costs for mitigation measures and climate adaptation changes. This allows for the full sustainability impact to be best understood and allowing our clients to develop optimal solutions. 

Most notably, we have recently been helping a client through a feasibility study related to a brand-new UK based Hydrogen Plant. This shows that we are at the forefront in terms of sustainability and are helping support the drive towards the availability of new fuel types. 

Case study: Next stop climate adaptation – evaluating sites for £4m EV bus depot relocation

Sweco is proud to have provided evaluation studies to drive plans forward for the relocation of Peterborough’s bus depot, which will lead to the electrification of the city’s fleet, power eco-friendly travel and ultimately unlock a future-proofed, accessible and sustainable public transport system across the region.

Business case project highlights

  1. DfT TCF Assurance – we worked with Arup for the DfT in assuring business cases submitted to them for Transforming Cities Funding
  2. Liverpool Clean Air Plan and North Staffordshire Local Air Quality Plan – two projects but a many similarities, working for Liverpool and Stoke in developing interventions to remove nitrogen dioxide exceedances.
  3. A75/77 – we assessed the economic impacts of significant transport investment in the South West of Scotland.
  4. Accessible Ayr – Integrated Impact Assessment to quantify the impact of placemaking on Ayr.
  5. Peterborough Bus Depot – a study around relocating a bus depot but with a big focus on EV buses.
  6. Stoke-on-Trent Transport Strategy – we supported SoT in developing its 10-year transport strategy which had supporting business cases focused around a very light rail network, net-zero (hydrogen) bus network and multi-modal hubs.

Saumil Patel

Technical Director

Martin Sellman

Technical Manager
Together with our clients and the collective knowledge of our engineers, consultants and other specialists, we co-create solutions to address urbanisation, capture the power of digitalisation, and make our societies more sustainable.​ With international multi-disciplinary teams, we can call on the right insight and technical capability at the right time from across Buildings, Infrastructure, Advisory & Planning and Compliance.​