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Ahead of our Annual Conference & Awards Dinner on 25th November, we sat down with Bindu Pokkyarath, Director – Economics at Pegasus Group, for a pre-event Q&A. Pegasus is a Knowledge Partner at the iED Annual Conference 2025, and is sponsoring the Outstanding Impact award at the iED Annual Awards 2025.
Thank you for your partnership this year. Why have you decided to get on board with the iED?
“The economics team at Pegasus Group has a long-standing relationship with the iED. As a company we have been members of the IED for more than ten years and we have gained significant value from the membership and continued collaboration. Our team is currently working with both public and private sector clients providing critical economic inputs that support planning applications, investment decisions and strategic planning. The economics team is currently in a growth phase with renewed focus on economic appraisals, business cases and social value. The iED brings together public and private sector stakeholders who design and influence economic development across the nation. This presents a great opportunity for us to use this membership as a platform to connect, collaborate and exchange ideas within the member community of the iED.”
The title of this year’s conference is Good Growth: Driving the UK economy with investment in our regions and communities. What does that mean to you/Pegasus Group?
“Investment decisions that focus on achieving high levels of public benefits can have a lasting impact on local and regional economy and communities. As an Economic Development Professional with extensive Business Case and Economic Appraisal experience, we can all contribute towards that growth using our knowledge, influence and technical capability. The economics team at Pegasus Group works closely with both public and private sector clients to help estimate and unlock economic and social value within projects. Regeneration, strategic investment in innovation sectors, New Towns, growth corridors, all present opportunities to ensure that the economic and social value links created have a long-term catalytic impact. Economic development professionals working closely with investors, delivery managers and other key stakeholders have a critical role to play and I am very much looking forward to exchange of ideas and knowledge shared as part of the iED Annual Conference this year.”
You are an Awards Partner for the Outstanding Impact category as well. Why have you chosen that particular award category?
“The economics team at Pegasus Group specialise in estimating, communicating and presenting economic and social value creation within projects. We understand that economic development impact is very complex and very layered in terms of beneficiaries, nature of benefits and time periods over which the benefits are accrued. Planning the outputs, delivering the outcomes and enabling impacts are all critical part of this process. Our experience of working on regeneration projects and large-scale development projects has highlighted the strategic significance of having strong leadership stakeholder and community involvement, which takes courage, conviction and a long-term vision to execute. We would really like to see some of these projects acknowledged and celebrated at the iED conference and hence chose to be Awards Partner for the Outstanding Impact award.”
What aspects of the conference, and awards evening, are you especially looking forward to?
“The iED Annual Conference brings together economic development professionals from across sectors and this will support the exchange of ideas, case studies, lessons learnt and much more throughout the day. It presents a great opportunity to discuss some of the challenges within the industry and exchange ideas and collaborations that will help address some of these challenges. In terms of the awards dinner, I am very much looking forward to celebrating projects and teams that have had a lasting impact on regions and communities. The dinner is a celebration of talent, skills and hard work within this professional network that I look forward to enjoying with our team.”
What do you think the next 12-18 months holds for economic development professionals?
“The UK economic environment in the next 12-18 months is likely to be challenging, with slow growth and tight fiscal budgets for public authorities. Whilst the funding landscape remains complex, there are opportunities like the Local Regeneration Fund which aims to transfer more decision making to local authorities. Combined Authorities and Mayoral Development Corporations will play a critical role in growth. The ambitious house building and net zero targets will continue to remain the investment focus and hence opportunities for the economic development professionals to help unlock private sector investments.”
What services does Pegasus Group provide that may be able to help them in their work?
“The economics team at Pegasus Group provides a full range of economic services including socio-economic assessments, business cases and evaluations. Our multidisciplinary strength as a company in planning, design, infrastructure, biodiversity, environment, ecology, building surveying and heritage has resulted in the economics team working across various sectors and seamlessly bringing in technical inputs into our analysis. At the heart of our work is economic strategy and case making to help clients take development forward. We have a reputation as reliable economic advisors and we hope to continue to build on our strengths and bring value to projects and schemes we work on.”
Tickets for the iED Annual Conference & Awards Dinner 2025 in Manchester are available to iED members and non-members here.
