Gecko Ltd are based in the North East of England and provide specialist economic development consultancy in the areas of Sports & Leisure, Technology and Social Enterprise primarily to the public sector.
After working as a consultant since 1999, Dr. Sara McIntyre set up Gecko Ltd in 2007 to provide specialist economic development consultancy in the areas of:
Most of her work is with public sector clients: developing strategies; monitoring and evaluating programmes; conducting feasibility studies; carrying out sector-specific mapping or development studies.
She also works with individual organisations developing business improvement plans and helping social enterprises to set-up and become established.
She works extensively with a selected group of partner companies to access specialist expertise to deliver the highest possible standards to clients on-time and on-budget. The aim is always to provide practical advice based on a sound understanding of the relevant issues, developed through robust quantitative and qualitative research..
Sport and Leisure are the primary business areas of Gecko Ltd and include:
Examples of feasibility studies undertaken for proposed investments in events or facilities:
Projects undertaken include:
Developing the economic potential of Sports Tourism in the East Midlands. This project included an extensive study, incorporating a number of economic impact studies, and led to a national conference and subsequent talks to Tourism Management Institute (with DTP)*
All the above economic impact studies were carried out in partnership with CogentSI
Many of the strategies and feasibility studies developed include sections on how to use sport to derive wider social and/or economic benefits. In addition we have specifically looked at this area on a number of occasions:
* Projects undertaken whilst I was co-owner of PAWA Consulting prior to setting up Gecko Ltd.
My background is in science and technology. I have a BSc in chemistry from Bath University and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Cambridge University. After starting work as a pharmaceutical research chemist at Glaxo I moved into sales and commercial management with ICI.
I retain my interest in supporting the technology industries and in the commercialisation of science through:
* Projects undertaken whilst I was co-owner of PAWA Consulting prior to setting up Gecko Ltd.
I became interested in the potential of social enterprises through a study of the role they play in sport in the East Midlands. At the time this was ground-breaking research and the findings contributed to Sport England’s “Sport Playing its Part” publication.
Since then my interest and involvement in social enterprises has continued and I have advised and guided a number of social enterprises through start-up, policy development, operational and business planning.
These include:
I have also delivered courses on social enterprise for the Tees Valley Professional Services Group.
* Projects undertaken whilst I was co-owner of PAWA Consulting prior to setting up Gecko Ltd.
Whatever your questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us by telephone, email or using the form below and we'll be in touch as soon as possible.
Gecko Ltd have been providing strategic advice and specialist economic development consultancy to a wide range of clients for over 10 years, our aim is to utilise the knowledge gained and leverage the experience of our partners to deliver projects on budget and on time.
We have worked predominantly with public sector bodies including local authorities and local enterprise partnerships to deliver projects that have included sector mapping studies, sector strategies, action plans, feasibility studies and developing funding bids. We also identify and implement initiatives to improve competitiveness and increase productivity. Our approach & experience allows us to provide practical advice based on a thorough understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing individual industry sectors and locations and deliver innovative solutions developed through robust quantitative and qualitative research.