Cath explained, "Better Business Cases™ is a systematic and objective approach to all stages of the business-case development process. It sits alongside - and complements - HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance. ELS has been delivering training relating to this approach since its release, developed by HM Treasury in 2009."

Generally available since 2014, Better Business Cases™ is based on The Five Case Model, the UK government’s best-practice approach to planning spending proposals and enabling effective business decisions. The Five Case Model covers

• the strategic case– strategic fit and clear investment objectives
• the economic case – optimising value for money
• the commercial case – attractiveness to the market and procurement arrangements
• the financial case – affordability
• the management case – deliverability and plans for deliver

At Project Challenge, Cath will be focusing on the commercial case, exploring what that might include and outlining some of the tools that could be used to write the case.

"Understanding an established and proven methodology such as this, which can be applied at both the strategic (macro) and tactical (micro) levels, is becoming essential as a core business competence for any manager or director," commented Cath.

"Not only do those undergoing Better Business Cases™ training gain vital insight into what constitutes a good business case, its lifecycle, and contents, but they develop skills that enable them to reduce waste as well as maximise value for money from any project.

"This enables their organisations to reduce unnecessary spend, optimise public value form the project, improve the quality of decision making, generate faster throughput, and develop a clear, proportionate approval process," Cath added.

"Increasingly, the Better Business Cases™ approach is gaining acceptance in the public sector, and this also means that any private-sector organisation that wants to do business with this sector should understand, and practice, this approach, too."