Caledonian Economics is an independent Scottish consulting practice, owned and managed by the people who work for it. The company was established in 1996 in response to a range of market opportunities and it focuses particularly on assisting with the appraisal, procurement and implementation of capital procurements. The company is the leading independent Scottish financial advisor to local authorities on capital projects. We advise on all stages of capital projects, from the Initial Feasibility and Business Plan stage, to procurement assistance, to post procurement implementation and support. In particular we provide support and assistance with:

The identification of options and investment opportunities;

Prioritisation of development needs and opportunities in the context of budget constraints;

Quantitative and qualitative options appraisal;

The development of financial and economic models;

Assessment of Value for Money according to relevant general and sector-specific guidance published by the Scottish and UK governments

Assessments of risk and optimism bias in the context of options appraisals;

Procurement advice including:

o shadow bid pricing
o development of tender documentation o
o bid evaluation o negotiation support
o project management;

Assistance with the implementation and management of capital projects, post procurement, including:

o Development of project manuals;
o Training;
o Specific support, particularly in financial areas such as:
o Payment Mechanism; o Indexation adjustment;
o change orders;
o Financial model updates and support;

General resource and support to in-house teams through secondments and placements

Our company was established with the aim of becoming a specialist provider of bespoke financial advice to clients procuring major capital projects. We have built the business on this principle and have developed quality management systems to support the concept. We are proud to have attained two external accreditations that validate our claim to having quality-management and people-management processes of the highest standard:

In 2003 we were certified as having achieved the standards required by ISO9001. The Quality systems on which our certification is based were developed specifically to reflect the requirements of major capital procurements;

In 2004, we were recognised as having achieved the standards of Investors in People. As with our ISO9001 accreditation, our IIP recognition is on the basis of systems and policies designed with the sole purpose of enabling us to attract and retain staff of the highest quality, ensuring that new members of our team can contribute fully as quickly as possible, and keeping everyone's skills up to date in this fast moving and dynamic sector. The report on our IIP assessment commented on:

'…the atmosphere of total trust and respect for each others skills and knowledge…'

'…an extremely robust induction process and a very effective system of [staff] reviews.'; and,

'…intensive personal research …to increase their knowledge and skills…'.

The firm also holds Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) of £10 million, reflecting the scale of projects on which we are currently advising. No claim has ever been made against our PII, but it provides an additional level of comfort to our clients that we will undertake a thorough due diligence on all assignments on which we act.

In summary, we offer a tightly knit, focused and disciplined team, comprising senior and experienced professionals who directly own and manage the practice. We work hard to make sure that our people and the services we deliver are of the absolute highest quality, and have very significant insurance cover.