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The high streets across the UK are under continuing pressure from the economic downturn, changes in consumer expectations and competing forms of retail. Recent policy reviews of planning in the form of the draft national planning policy framework, the consultation of which closed in October 2011, and Portas review of England’s High streets, published in December 2012 have again focused people’s attention on hundreds of stuggling town centres in every corner of the country. There have been renewed calls in the media for action to reverse the decline of these centres of local economic and social activity: nef's response to Portas is here.

nef has provided responses to the Portas review and were consulted on its development. We have long been arguing for greater recognition of the role local, independent traders play in the retail mix – and for high streets to be reimagined as locally distinct places of cultural, leisure, social and economic opportunity, more generally. nef consulting has been working across the UK, putting these ideas into practice and helping to plug the leaks.

We've pulled together a summary of the work we've done recently for download; for more information contact David Tyrer on david.tyrer@nef-consulting.co.uk or 020 7820 6367.

nef consulting is partnering with IMA International to deliver a 5-day course on how to maximise value for money in international development. We'll be in Dubai in late April 2012 and Cape Town in October 2012. Click here for all the details.

December 2011 saw Natalie Nicholles and David Tyrer from nef consulting deliver a two day Social Return in Investment (SROI) training course to representatives of the ThaiHealth Promotion Foundation, along with prominent health economists and social enterprise representatives, in Bangkok. ThaiHealth was established in 2001 and is the first organisation of its kind it Asia. Funded by ‘sin taxes’ on alcohol and tobacco producers and importers, their role is to promote health amongst the Thai population, to develop community capacity, awareness and understanding of health issues across the country.

To find out more about the work of ThaiHealth visit http://en.thaihealth.or.th/

For more information abut nef consulting’s work in public health, please contact David Tyrer on 0207 7820 6367 or david.tyrer@nef-consulting.co.uk

Nic Marks is speaking on Ideas for a Happier World for the Action for Happiness Campaign next week.

It will be a great opportunity to learn a bit more about what Nic has been working on with nef consulting and his latest ideas about improving workplace well-being.

Details: 19th Jan, 6.30pm, London

You can find out more and book tickets here. 

The Business Well-being Network’s latest report

nef consulting contributed to the Business Well-being Network’s annual report, published this month. This year’s report does an excellent job of placing organisational well-being in the context of the national well-being agenda.

It explores how changes to the working landscape are making a focus on well-being and resilience increasingly relevant. Jody Aked offers her reflections on why workplace well-being is important and on the changes we wish to see in 2012,

“The good news is that well-being at work is not only good for employees; it is also in an employer’s direct interests… We believe that good jobs that bring positive life experiences and satisfaction should sit at the heart of how we design our economy and our work”.

To find out more, click here.

nef consulting are working with organisations and businesses in 2012 to learn more about the well-being of their employees using our new Well-being@Work survey, to be launched in January. If you would like to learn more, email Jody.

nef consulting’s very own Nic Marks got a mention in Forbes magazine this week when Chris Anderson, the curator of TED, was asked to make his seven top picks for the year’s best ideas.

We are very excited that businesses and organisations are starting to take notice of well-being. But what does well-being at work look like and how can it be improved? This is the challenge that Nic and nef consulting are working on at the moment with Delivering Happiness in the US.

We are developing the next generation Well-being@Work survey, and are devising an intuitive DIY tool that individuals, teams and organisations can use to accurately identify levels of well-being and, most importantly, set about improving them.

It will be launched in January 2012. If you would like to learn more or share ideas in the meantime, please contact Jody – jody.aked@nef-consulting.co.uk

Growing a social enterprise? We want to let you know there is a new free service: arc.

An initiative of Business in the Community, arc provides a unique, comprehensive package of in-depth long-term engagement with large established businesses to help you expand your business. arc is designed to help social enterprises benefit from unprecedented business opportunities following the London 2012 Olympics.

The application is only open until Friday November 4th; find out more about the support or contact Matt Lill at arc with any questions.

 Jonathan Schifferes is presenting a webinar at midday on Thursday 6th October. The subject is "SROI: measuring social value. How does it work and could it work for me?". This is organised through the NHS Institute for Innovation: click here to register and for more information.

nef and nef consulting are launching an exciting new initiative: the SROI Centre for Excellence. We want to collate and promote the collective intelligence on social value that exists among practitioners and our partners. Through the Centre for Excellence we want to ensure that Social Return On Investment is synonymous with excellence in evaluation and appraisal. Our first major initiative is a series of new SROI Masterclasses. Read more about the Centre for Excellence here.

 An exciting partnership has begun between the consultancy and the Community Sector Council (CSC) in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Embarking on a year-long pilot project co-financed by provincial and federal governments and CSC, nef consulting's Natalie Nicholles and Jonathan Schifferes will support 15 community organisations to demonstrate their value using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology. 

To find out about CSC visit www.communitysector.nl.ca