PBE to complete round of redundancies by the end of the year

PBE is set to complete a round of redundancies by the end of the year that has been enacted due to a drop in income at the think tank.

Two more roles are set to go by the end of this month as the charity focused economics think tank halves its full-time workforce.

Most roles have already been cut during autumn “with decisions on a final two roles to be made at the end of the year”, confirmed PBE chief executive Matt Whittaker.

The think tank’s workforce is set to be cut from 19 full time and three part-time employees to nine full time and five part time.

“We’ve taken a strategic approach to the restructure that has been necessitated by the drop in our income this year, scaling back our policy and comms work while protecting our ability to support charities across the UK with economic analysis and expertise – recognising the consistently strong demand we face for such work,” said Whittaker.

“While the restructure is not something we would have wanted to undertake if circumstances didn’t demand it, we’re pleased to note that the combination of a reduction in our cost base alongside some recent multi-year funding success has rapidly restored our finances to a stable position.”

Small Charities Forum

He confirmed that the Small Charities Forum it launched earlier this year will continue. Its work training economists in the use of wellbeing impact methodologies will also remain in place, as will its work with the Social Sector Economists Network.

“As before, we’ll balance reactive support for charities that seek out our help with proactive efforts to identify and plug key evidence gaps that can empower the wider social sector and make a meaningful difference to the wellbeing of the nation,” he said.

However, he added that “we’ll no longer have in-house capacity for comms and large-scale public events” although PBE is “keen to work with partners to ensure the evidence we generate gets plugged into local and national policy debates and design”.

During 2025 the think tank has supported 161 social sector organisation and aims to help at least 125 during 2026.

Whittaker said that “as a smaller organisation, we’ll inevitably do a little less in 2026” but “we hope to remain as relevant and as impactful as ever”.