Content

This is the second year of the Beauhurst
business database subscription for the council. Building on
intelligence and information obtained in year one, year two targets
are to produce monthly reports for councillors and the wider
public, where relevant.

Reasons for the decision

In order to facilitate the delivery of the WBC
Economic Development Strategy April 2024 , and
Priorities 2024-26 Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan
2024-32
Strategy documents links here
https://www.businesswaverley.co.uk/en-UK/page/668814dd8088c7172255cd59/economic-development-strategy-and-action-plan-2024-32

Access to the database of 8,000 local businesses is required. This
data to be used :-
- to provide a snapshot of the health of the local economy,
comparative to neighbouring boroughs. Providing governance of the
service's activity and spend in achieving the economic development
strategy aims and targets.
- to identify key sectors such as green businesses, changes in
business numbers, contacts for communication channels, new
arrivals, new investment, and businesses in stress and who require
more support.
Access to the Beauhurst database enables this intelligence.

Alternative options considered

In 2023-24 the economic development service
paid for access to FAME data (Moodys). Beauhurst is more user
friendly.
By not purchasing access to a business database, updated daily,
researching businesses can be done at no extra cost but a
significant amount of time via Google but doesn’t provide all
the data we need