Water-rich north luring water-poor southern companies

27/11/2006

While in the south many businesses are having to face up to the potential consequences of strict water-restrictions (recent heavy rains have had little impact on water levels) and the disastrous impact that this may have, in the north there are no hosepipe bans in place now, nor any expected, even if there is no major rainfall over the summer. This is an aspect of the Tees Valley which is being promoted by Northumbrian Water, in partnership with Tees Valley Regeneration, in a marketing campaign to entice companies to move from the South up North to avoid any problems that water shortages are likely to cause their business.

This campaign has come about after extensive analysis by data-engineering consultancy Rocket Science, which studied businesses in the Tees Valley to identify what the region had that differentiated it from other regions.  Water was one of these and, as it has become increasingly higher up the agenda, this has formed the core of a campaign to attract new business into the area.  The whole campaign is driven by data analysis carried out by Rocket Science to identify businesses with high water usage, their sensitivity to water (i.e. how essential water is to the business) and their likelihood to be affected by drought according to their geographical location.

Says Claire Riley, Marketing and Communication’s Manager at Northumbrian Water, “We have an excellent, sustainable supply of water in the Tees Valley which is a real asset to local businesses.  With the likelihood of longer, hotter summers becoming more the norm, problems with water supply could become a real issue for businesses in the South that depend on it.  This campaign aims to bring this to people’s attention, as well as to extol the other virtues of the area, such as the infrastructure, low cost property, workforce and natural attractions, with the aim of bringing further investment into the area.”

Using Northumbrian Water’s business customer database, Rocket Science analysed water bills looking at the size and types of businesses they served to build up a profile of high water usage businesses.  This profile was then overlaid across the UK to identify other businesses which would also be likely to be high users of water.

Two additional criteria were added to this analysis to enhance the targeting. Rocket Science identified which of these businesses were located a mile or less from rivers and canals.  This was important as legislation allowing companies to extract water from, and discharge water back into, rivers and canals has changed making this much more difficult to do.  Also, Rocket Science identified reservoirs that were under threat, with particularly low levels of water, making it likely that businesses close by would be badly affected by drought.

Using this clever mix of information, Rocket Science was able to produce a list of companies that were likely to be high users of water, and with a significant threat of having problems with water supply.  Rocket Science then classified these companies according to their use of water into one of five groups – product (i.e. water is an ingredient in a product e.g. bread), process (water used in the process of making a product/service), safety (e.g. cooling in a power station), hygiene (e.g. large offices where hygiene would be a problem if toilets can’t be flushed). 

This enabled Rocket Science to create a propensity risk model based on the impact of a water shortage on a business – so for instance, a retailer would have hygiene risks but be less concerned about lack of water than a baker who would have to stop production of their products.  The only business-type Rocket Science couldn’t categorise was funeral directors as it seemed to fit all categories!

Having done this it was possible to whittle down the list of businesses to those that would be at greatest risk as a result of a water shortage.  These have now formed the basis of a direct mail campaign providing these businesses with key information about how a move to the Tees Valley could be the answer to all their problems.

Alan Timothy, CEO at Rocket Science, concludes, “There are few business issues that cannot be solved, or at least helped, by the understanding you gain from data analysis.  Data has driven the route we have taken to promote the Tees Valley, and has enabled us to be extremely targeted in the choice of businesses being involved in this campaign.”

Contacts:

Alan Timothy at Rocket Science: t: 01642 808 888,
Susan Perolls at Loudmouth PR: t: 020 7274 9790.