how we work and who we work with
Although we have carried out projects covering almost every aspect of local government policy the vast majority of our work is focused on planning matters – ward councillors, planning committee members and stakeholders such as parish councils and community groups. Our insight helps clients bring forward clearer, better‑informed applications that respect local priorities.
Agencies and clients come to VDK Research at every point in the planning cycle from early scoping of sites to issues and options papers to draft local plans to active applications to resubmissions.
Due to the nature of the bulk of our work being about planning matters most of our projects are individual but we have done some longer-term projects on a retainer basis for clients with multiple sites in the pipeline.
Case Study
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Case Study 〰️
who we work with
Most of our work is through communications agencies but their end clients couldn’t be from a wider range of sectors. We have done work for end clients who are hedge funds, landowners, developers, resident groups, academic institutions, voluntary sector organisations, public sector bodies and individuals.
VDK Research and the Market Research Society
We are absolutely committed to confidentiality. In most cases we don’t even know who the end client is and when we speak to stakeholders the only people who know who has been spoken to are the interviewer and interviewee themselves. All identifiable information is removed unless the interviewee explicitly asks to be quoted. All researchers doing work for VDK Research are members of the Market Research Society and follow the market research code of conduct.
Our work is qualitative insight, not advocacy.
VDK Research and the Institute of Political Psychology
Political decision-making isn’t something we can easily “model” – politicians frequently make decisions you don’t expect, often against their own interests. But if we can understand how someone comes to a decision we may be able to ensure our communication with them is appropriate and increase the chances of making the strongest possible case.
You may have heard of jury consultants in the United States through films such as Runaway Jury and TV shows such as Bull and Lie to Me. A planning committee has similar characteristics – everyone in the room comes to a decision based on their own experiences, interests and points of view. The key difference between a jury trial and a committee decision is understanding the politics of the situation and that is key – we come at it with an understanding and appreciation of politics and then factor in the psychology.
VDK Research is a proud member of the Institute for Political Psychology because having a greater understanding of political decision making is the best way to ensure clients maximise their chances of achieving the best result.