Helping keep CREDS in Cambridgeshire schools

CREDS is a service in Cambridgeshire that provides support for schools and settings with children from minority ethnic backgrounds, including Gypsy, Roma & Travellers and children with English as an additional language. Many schools across the region see CREDS support as invaluable. However, with the sector facing budget cuts, CREDS is faced with the possibility of becoming a traded service or closing.

The service decided to commission some research with their users/potential users before making any vital decisions about their future. We were delighted to be recommended to them by the Cambridgeshire Council from previous work we completed in the Early Years sector. Our work with them began at the end of the 2016 academic year.

Essentially our task was to gather information about what schools in Cambridgeshire could afford to pay for CREDS and how best these services could be offered so that CREDS was still accessible for those who needed it most. Given the variety of schools and their ever-changing requirements we felt both a qualitative and quantitative approach appropriate. It was a 3-stage process beginning with depth interviews, followed by focus groups and quantified with a telephone survey. We spoke with around 130 schools across the county.

As expected, results were complex and dependent on certain situations, i.e. the numbers of minority pupils attending the school at any one time. The most definite conclusion was that schools’ needs and their affordability varied greatly from school to school and term to term so any offer produced by CREDS would have to be flexible. Our conclusions and suggestions were presented to CREDS who will use them to try and form a financially viable and flexible programme that will allow them to continue reaching the needs of pupils who need it most in Cambridgeshire.

“The project was a real pleasure to work on. It really gave us an insight into the struggles that the education sector are facing from both the schools’ perspective and the council’s” said Rachel Clark, project manager of the survey. “I hope that our research enables CREDS to produce a sustainable traded service that ensures the continuation of the services they provide”.

More information about CREDS and the work they do can be viewed here.

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The challenge

Since 2015 we have worked with the Kennel Club to gather feedback from visitors to Crufts – the world’s largest dog show. Crufts is now in its 126th year – 882nd year to our four-legged friends. The research is mainly used to measure satisfaction and highlight ways in which the dogs’ and visitors’ experiences can be improved.

Objectives

Quite simply we want to highlight areas of the show which require attention and provide insight into various aspects of the show. More specifically we study:

• Visitor demographics
• Dog ownership
• Reasons for attending the show
• How long is spent at the show in total and in particular areas
• Key Performance Indicators and Net Promoter Scores
• Ratings of different aspects of the show, from trade stands to car parking
• Usage of other Kennel Club services
• Awareness of the main sponsor and other brands at Crufts

Our approach

This year, in 2017, the show attracted a huge 162,000 visitors. As we want the opinions and feedback from as many of the visitors as possible, the only realistic means of doing this is through an online quantitative survey.

This year 20,000 visitors were invited to take part. We designed the questionnaire in 2015 and it has remained much unchanged in order to maintain comparability. Changes are only made to reflect any new avenue that the Kennel Club might wish to explore.

Reminders were issued after a couple of weeks to those who hadn’t taken part which brought in another few hundred responses. Altogether we achieved a total of nearly 6500 responses for 2017.

Outcomes

This survey provides essential data on visitors to the show. This year an area of particular interest was the layout of the trade stands.

Results are always very interesting. We were delighted to be commissioned to continue running this survey in 2018 and 2019. Since 2015 we have completed more than 14,000 interviews and are looking forward to achieving many more!

“The Kennel Club has worked with PCP for approximately 5 years. PCP has supplied customer insight through online surveys for Crufts visitors and also facilitated a number of focus groups and delivered the output. Each time PCP has provided insightful, comprehensive reporting which has helped guide our services and products accordingly.  They are highly professional and a great team to work with.”

Helen Fox (Marketing Director)
The Kennel Club, based in Leeds.

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The challenge

Only a small proportion of residents and visitors to a seaside town were visiting the local art gallery and a museum. The local museums trust wanted to understand why the attractions were not being visited and what could be done to encourage more visitors.

Objectives

• To establish awareness and perceptions of the Museum and Art Gallery.To establish the how often the two attractions were visited.To assess reactions to what the venues offered and establish motivations to visit in the future.To identify ways to encourage more visits from either new or repeat visitors.

Our approach

We conducted research with three different target groups:

• Local residents.
• Visitors to the town, both those visiting for the day only and those staying overnight.
• Those living within 60 miles of the seaside town who visited other museums and / or art galleries.

We carried out qualitative and quantitative research. These involved:

• 300 telephone interviews with residents and 300 face-to-face interviews with visitors to the town during their stay. Both groups were asked about their awareness and perceptions of the different attractions in the town, their reasons for visiting or not visiting and their reaction when we described the facilities the attractions offered.
• We carried out an online survey with 300 people who lived within 60 miles of the seaside town and who visited other museums and art galleries. We asked which museums and art galleries they visited, what had motivated them to visit these attractions and what they knew about the attractions in the seaside town. They were asked how likely they would be to visit the town’s attractions after we described the facilities on offer.
• Four focus groups were held amongst both visitors and non-visitors to the attractions and amongst both residents and visitors to the town. We focused on finding out what stopped visits and what could be done to overcome these barriers. The aim was to identify actions and messages which would stimulate first-time visitors to attend and current visitors to return more often.

Outcomes

Some very clear conclusions emerged from the research. We found many visitors to the town and to nearby museums and art galleries were not aware of the existence of the town’s museum and art gallery. Once told about the attractions, many were very interested in visiting.

Residents who had visited the museum and the art gallery had enjoyed their visit and said they would like to return. Only a small proportion of them had actually done so though.

We also discovered the Art Gallery’s café served as a meeting point and often encouraged visits to the gallery. A café or tea shop in the museum could encourage more visits, particularly if it overlooked the sea.

Our other suggestions included:

• Highlighting the attractions’ educational value, particularly to children.
• Explaining that, as exhibits changed, a visitor has not seen everything there is to see after a first visit.
• Increasing advertising and promotion.
• Creating more interactive activities, particularly for children.
• Involving local schools.
• Establishing a “trail” on nearby pavements leading to the museum.
• Improving accessibility, particularly for the elderly or disabled.

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The challenge

We were commissioned by an automotive purchasing and wholesale company. The company has been a heavy advertiser on television for many years. They wished to consider the effectiveness of a number of alternative creative routes.

Objectives

• To consider the perceived advantages and disadvantages of different methods of selling a car
• To understand how the current service offered by the client was viewed by customers and potential customers
• To assess awareness and attitudes towards the company’s current advertising
• To consider which, if any, of four alternative advertising approaches would make an effective campaign.

Our approach

Little research had been undertaken by the company before. It was therefore difficult to anticipate in advance what issues were likely to be raised by customers. For this reason we recommended running focus groups. The ‘brainstorming’ approach of a focus group allows people to in depth discussions. This often leads to lead to insights which are beyond the scope of quantitative research such as an online survey.

We ran four focus groups. Two were held in the North of England, and two in the South. All the participants had purchased a car in the last six months or planned to do so in the next six months. Two groups were held with female respondents only, two with male respondents only.

We identified occasions when each of the alternative methods of selling a car would be appropriate. We then asked the focus group to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the company’s current operations.

Outcomes

Some general themes emerged as points to stress when advertising the company’s services. We also passed on suggestions as to how the services could be improved.

Of the four advertising approaches considered, two showed the most promise. We also put forward ideas as to make the messages even more effective than any of those discussed. A recommendation was left with the client that this new approach was worthy of serious consideration.

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Opening up about double glazing

Over the last 12 months we have run a huge project with double glazing giants Safestyle. Safestyle have been manufacturing and installing windows and doors for homeowners across England and Wales for over 20 years. In 2016, we were commissioned to advise on how the Safestyle brand and its advertising could be developed.

We enjoyed carrying out extensive qualitative and quantitative research for this long-running project. Numerous focus groups around the country, depth interviews and an online survey helped us to provide detailed reports to Safestyle about how they can continue to progress. Safestyle have devised advertising campaigns aided by our findings.

Therefore, we were delighted to have the company approach us in May to carry out some follow-up research for their new campaigns.

We can’t wait to see what the future holds with Safestyle and look forward to working with them again in the future.

“Safestyle UK commissioned PCP Market Research to undertake a major review of the company’s branding and advertising. Peter and his team worked tirelessly to meet tight deadlines and were dedicated to getting the clearest possible insights for the company. We were delighted with the research they conducted and a new advertising campaign has been developed which incorporates many of the findings. Overall, I feel that PCP really care about the quality of their work and how it can help their clients – something which is quite rare in the agencies I have worked with over the years. Well done to the team. They are very highly recommended” – Phil Berry (Head of Marketing at Safestyle UK).

For more information about the work we have run with Safestyle read our case study.

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Our favourite four-legged clients

Last year we had the privilege of conducting several projects for The Kennel Club. Not only did we run the Crufts visitor survey in April 2016, we were commissioned to run a series of adhoc qualitative research projects on various topics. We can safely say it was certainly a perk of the job being able to sit in one of the Kennel Club’s very attractive meeting rooms talking to interesting people about their furry friends. The results from all of these projects were fascinating. It makes the job even more satisfying to know that findings are going to be used to try and improve welfare for dogs nationwide.

It was the icing on top of the cake to be recommissioned to carry out the Crufts Visitor Survey again this year, the third successive year for which we had carried out this work. We received a huge 6000 responses from the online survey. We were delighted with the results and hope to be working with the Kennel Club again in the future.

“The Kennel Club has worked with PCP for approximately 5 years. PCP has supplied customer insight through online surveys for Crufts visitors and also facilitated a number of focus groups and delivered the output.  Each time PCP has provided insightful, comprehensive reporting which has helped guide our services and products accordingly.  They are highly professional and a great team to work with” – Helen Fox (Marketing & Business Development Executive at the Kennel Club).

For more information about the Kennel Club and the work they do, visit their website http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/

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Visit York

Make it York, the city’s Destination Management Organisation, commission a visitor survey on an annual basis. We have had the privilege of running the survey for a full 11-year period between 1997 and 2008, then again from 2013 to 2016. We are delighted to announce that we have now been commissioned to run this year’s survey.

The survey’s primary role is to evaluate visitors’ experiences and satisfaction levels of York. The results are used to provide tourism intelligence to support economic, product and marketing decision-making. We conduct face-to-face interviews with visitors at various locations in York, including the Minster and the National Railway Museum. This year we will conduct at least 1000 interviews using the latest interviewer technology.

What we love most about this project is knowing that the results are used towards making our great city even greater. Being a York local our project manager, Tom Hollingsworth, was thrilled to be running the survey once again as he explains, “being able to run the annual visitor survey for my home city is a proud moment for me. I’ve always loved this project, not least because the logistics of all the face-to-face interviews is a great challenge”.

For more information about the Visit York survey visit their website http://www.visityork.org/members/about/statistics.aspx

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Drink as I do

We have worked on many projects with Claremont communications. They are an agency specialising in social issues and we were delighted when they approached us to undertake some important work on behalf of their client, The National Hydration Council. The NHC is a not for profit organisation dedicated to researching the science and communicating the facts about health hydration. We have been lucky enough to work with the organisation on several projects now and were delighted to be approached to investigate how parents’ drinking habits can influence their children.

In June 2016, we interviewed 1000 parents and one of their children across the UK via an online survey. The children were aged between 4 and 8 years old. The survey revealed the significant influence that parents have on what their children drink. For example, children living with parents who often drink fizzy drinks were almost 3 times more likely to drink fizzy drinks than other children. However, as well as influencing unhealthy drinking habits, the survey also identified how parents could positively influence healthy hydration habits. 63% of the children interviewed drank plain water on any given day which rose to 87% in households where parents drink plain water often.

As Kinvara Carey, General Manager of the Natural Hydration Council, explains “children ‘parrot’ our behaviours from an early age. So, to encourage healthy eating habits, we need to express pleasure in what we eat and drink, placing particular emphasis on doing this for healthier foods and drinks, while toning this down for less healthy products.”

“Working with PCP is a pleasure – they are my ‘go to’ research company. I have worked with them for two years and nothing has ever been too much to ask. Peter in particular is always very helpful and happy to answer numerous questions. He always offers his expertise too so that you feel in safe hands throughout working with them. The whole team are polite, flexible and always happy to help. On many occasions I have given very tight deadlines and PCP has never let me down. I would definitely recommend working with them” Emma Prince (Consultant at Claremont Communications).

For more information on this project and the work that the National Hydration Council does, visit their website http://www.naturalhydrationcouncil.org.uk/press/drink-as-i-do/

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Do you know how to buckle your child up safely?

We have worked on numerous projects with the communications agency Third City and were thrilled when they approached us to undertake some important work on behalf of their client, Sheilas’ Wheels, in the summer last year. In light of a Department of Transport report issued in 2015 which reported that child road deaths had risen by 3% to 53 deaths from September 2013 to 2014, Sheilas’ Wheels commissioned work to investigate the usage of child seats.

We primarily wanted to find out whether child car seats were being used correctly and attitudes of adults towards them. We conducted face-to-face interviews with 100 randomly selected drivers whose cars were equipped with child seats. In order to check whether or not they were fitted correctly we worked alongside certified car safety technicians. Each car was checked to see whether each child seat was installed correctly, incorrectly but safe or incorrectly and dangerous.

Alongside the practical check of the seats installed we also asked several survey questions to the respondents. We wanted to know how confident they felt in the fitting of the seat. What issues, if any they have experienced. What their attitudes to the seats were, for example, when did they feel their child would no longer require a seat? Or, would they risk a short journey without the seat?

The results confirmed Sheilas’ Wheels’ concerns that many parents were unknowingly risking their children’s lives as they failed to install their seats correctly. 1 in 3 (32%) seats were fitted incorrectly and 1 in 10 (10%) of those were dangerously wrong – putting children at high risk of injury should an accident have occurred. Over a third of parents admitted that they struggled with the installation of the seats with half of parents not switching off the air bags when the child seat was in the front passenger seat.

As Elspeth Hackett, Sheilas’ Wheels spokesperson said “it is extremely important to be aware of what type of car seat your child should be in, so they are secure if something happens while you’re driving… many parents make simple mistakes by using the wrong seat or installing it incorrectly, putting their child’s life in danger. Every child seat is different, so installation and use recommendations will differ.”

It was a pleasure to be part of such an important project and we hope that the research will educate more adults in the importance of correct installation of child car seats.

“We have worked with Peter and the team for more than a decade. They are knowledgeable, dedicated and provide a great service. We find them particularly good at raising bespoke samples at a very reasonable cost” – Mark Lowe (Co-Founder at Third City Communications Agency, London).

To check the current regulations on child car seats, visit the government website https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules/using-a-child-car-seat-or-booster-seat.

For further details on this project visit Sheilas’ Wheels website http://www.sheilaswheels.com/parents-risk-childrens-safety-due-to-fitting-child-seats-incorrectly

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What would you like to learn? York learning for all ages.

It is always special when we get commissioned for research in our beautiful home-city of York. York college essentially wanted to assess the level of demand for different types of adult training course. We were delighted to be approached by them with this exciting project. Plus, being right around the corner from us made for extremely handy meetings!

We wanted to speak with 200 local residents of York and thought the best way to do this was through a telephone survey. We wanted to find out what their awareness was of York College as a source of adult training. How York College compared with other sources of adult training in the area. What type of course adults might be interested in. What barriers someone might have to overcome to allow them to study their preferred course. How much they would be willing to travel to attend a course or how much they would be willing to pay. How they might think to source information about available adult courses.

Findings were very interesting and revealed, amongst a number of things, that a majority would be interested in furthering their education. Results allowed us to advise the college on what types of courses were seemingly preferable, what timings and locations would be most convenient and what barriers potential learners might face. It was a privilege to work with the college and we were glad to be able to offer guidance on how best to advance adult education.

Details about adult education offered by York College can be found at their website here.

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