Co-Founder and Special Advisor
Erik Bichard
Erik Bichard is a Co-Founder of RealWorth with over 35 years of experience in sustainability impact evaluation across various sectors.
As well as contributing to major regeneration projects, Erik helped develop the methodologies used to measure social value. He has also led social value policy initiatives and supported pro-social organisations, including a museum, hospice, mosques, and a theatre company.
Away from RealWorth, Erik is a Trustee of RiseUp; an organisation that works with people in prison, schools, and those at risk of offending to challenge behaviour patterns and improve people’s lives.
My projects
Earls Court Development Company: Earls Court
The Earls Court Development Company (ECDC) are responsible for driving the regeneration of the, circa 40 acres, former Earls Court Exhibition Centre site. In 2021, ECDC appointed RealWorth to measure the social value of the activities associated with the regeneration process and has since been retained as the Development Partnership’s Social Value Advisor to help define and implement its social value strategy.
This long-term appointment seeks to integrate social value into a wide range of functions conducted by ECDC during the planning, design, construction, and occupation phases of the development.
The work that RealWorth is doing is used by ECDC to underpin the design and development of the project, working towards a completed development that has embedded social value at every stage.
Case study
The Liverpool City Region: Spatial Development Strategy
The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) is a statutory planning document that provides a strategic plan for the development and use of land across six local authorities. The SDS will set out an integrated economic, environmental, transport and social framework for the development of the Liverpool City Region.
RealWorth has a long-running appointment with the LCRCA to deliver an ongoing social value evaluation of the SDS. Since 2019, RealWorth has been tasked with evaluating the social value of every policy within the SDS at every stage in its development, to ensure that it considers social impacts in areas such as health and wellbeing, as well as their economic outcomes.
Case study
Vinnova: Developing a Social Value Model for Sweden
RealWorth was part of a Swedish team commissioned to develop an approach to optimise and measure the social value of regeneration programmes across Sweden. There was specific emphasis on community cohesion and how role of planning and design could be used to deliver local lasting impact. The project included four Swedish case studies in Malmö and Lund to test the approach in the field.
Case study