INTRODUCTION

Who we are……

Palmer Development Consulting (PDC) is a South African firm concerned with Africa’s development. We strive to improve the quality of life of South Africans by focusing on management support & research in the learning community and domestic energy sectors. PDC continues the tradition of multi-disciplinary professional work established by Palmer Development Group (PDG). There are two offices, one in Randburg and one in Pretoria and we maintain a close relationship with our sister company, Palmer Development Group, based in Cape Town.

We have four primary value drivers:

• Impacting on Development

The overriding value driver of the Firm is to impact positively on development.

• Building Clients

The Firm is committed to serve its clients and the market.

• Building the Organization

Career satisfaction of the professional and support team is central to the Firm’s ethos.

• Managing and Leading Effectively

Decision-makers in the Firm are committed to managing and leading the organization effectively.

What we offer….

The nature of PDC’s work can be divided into four broad areas: research, policy, development planning and management support. All projects need to satisfy our identified value drivers, i.e. it must contribute positively to development, it must serve our clients and the market and it must build the organization. PDC’s areas of expertise can be described as research, policy, implementation and evaluation.

Research

Research accounts for about 40% of our work, focused primarily on the fields of education and energy with the emphasis on renewable energy in the form of the solar cooker project. The firm specialises in primary research including data capturing, data management and analysis. The emphasis on research makes PDC unusual for a private firm, influencing not only our work profile but also the structure of our organisation. Most professional members of PDC have more than one post-graduate qualification and we maintain well-established links with universities, a good library and efficient computer systems.

Policy

Following from research, information is used to assist in the policy making process. PDC assisted various national government structures and other policy-making bodies during the general period of policy formulation following the elections in 1994. PDC has been involved with policy supportive studies for the Department of Minerals and Energy (in the implementation of the electricity poverty tariff (EBSST), the control of the LPG price to the domestic market and the implementation of the Basa Njengo Magogo pilot project in Orange Farm). We view the process of research, policy, implementation and evaluation as a cyclical process and therefore anticipate a process of revisiting existing policy in the foreseeable future.

Planning

Financial planning and strategies represents about 20% of our business. Increasing expertise in this field was invested in financial planning models specifically aimed at schools and school education providers.

Management support

20% of our work is in the field of management support where we assist clients managing programmes or projects, largely in two fields: education, where we assist in managing the transformation of innovative schools and energy, where we manage a multi-year national comparative solar cooker field test programme. We have recently (June 2006) completed the overall Programme Management of health and safety renovations at 10 hostels in the Sedibeng and West Rand areas.