Join us for our first event of 2026, where we will be exploring Data after Dark – Understanding the night-time economy and SLA 2026 Salary & Benefits Survey – Benchmarking Pay, Benefits and Working Practices across Location Planning & Customer Insight.
The results of the 6th SLA 2026 Salary & Benefits Survey will be revealed for the first time. You’ll hear about in depth analysis of the pay, benefits, working patterns and job satisfaction views of location planning professionals and more… see below.
In this deep dive into the night-time economy you’ll discover how data shapes our after-hours world and what it means for businesses and communities. A fun, informal chance to connect, learn, and explore the vibrant night-time scene through the power of data. Don’t miss out on this unique event!
Event details
Date: Tuesday 19th May 2026
Time: 5.30pm for 6pm
Location: The Gallery, Tileyard, Kings Cross, N7 9AH
Topic: Data after Dark – Understanding the night-time economy / 2026 SLA Salary & Benefits Survey
Agenda
Please arrive for 5.30pm as our event will begin at 6pm promptly.
- 5.30pm – Registration opens
- 6.00pm – Welcome from the Chair
- 6.10pm – 2026 SLA Salary & Benefits Survey: Benchmarking Pay, Benefits and Working Practices across Location Planning & Customer Insight, Paul Halsall, Founder, Insight Talent Solutions
- 6.30pm – Data after Dark, revealing the people, places and pressures that define the city at night – James Cheshire, Professor of Geographic Information and Cartography at UCL
- 7.00pm – Evaluating and monitoring the night-time economy in Bromley – Matthew Hopkinson, MD of Didobi, Chairman of Emu Analytics, Honorary Professor at UCL
- 7.30pm – close and networking drinks
How to book
Please bookmark your diary now and use the button below to book:
Speaker Outlines
SLA 2026 Salary & Benefits Survey
Benchmarking Pay, Benefits and Working Practices across Location Planning & Customer Insight
Paul Halsall, Founder, Insight Talent Solutions
In the 6th consecutive Salary & Benefits Survey conducted for the Society for Location Analysis, we received 151 responses, exceeding the SLA participation target. The survey covers:
- Salary, bonuses, benefits, working patterns and satisfaction across the profession.
- Highlights wage inflation trends between 2024 and 2026 compared with CPIH
- Explores changes in bonus structures and pay progression by age group
- Provides updated insight into the Gender Pay Gap
- Includes new insight into flexible working and use of AI in day‑to‑day roles
The survey results are designed to support hiring managers, team benchmarking, and individual career planning.
Data After Dark: revealing the people, places and pressures that define the city at night.
James Cheshire, Professor of Geographic Information and Cartography in the UCL Department of Geography and the inaugural director of the UCL Social Data Institute.
The talk will:
Offer several recommendations for what’s needed to improve both data and policy for nightworkers.
Introduce the largest study conducted to date into London’s nightworkers.
Share new maps of the city’s night-time access to services and characteristics of nightworkers.
Evaluating and monitoring the night-time economy in Bromley
Matthew Hopkins, Managing Director, Didobi Limited
This presentation draws on the work that Didobi did with both the London Borough of Bromley and the Mayor of London when Bromley was awarded the Night-time Enterprise Zone funding.
- Defining the night-time
- Identifying and understanding relevant data
- Creating a structure for ongoing evaluation and monitoring
- Lessons learnt
Speak biographies
Paul Halsall, Founder, Insight Talent Solutions
Insight Talent Solutions is a boutique recruitment consultancy established in 2016. We are analysts (Paul has many years location planning and GIS experience) turned recruiters and have built a world class reputation of recruitment services to both clients and candidates in the areas of Location Planning, Property and Economic Research, GIS, Consumer Insight and Sales and Account Management in those areas.
Given our analytical background, we also provide a whole range of bespoke Training courses in Microsoft Excel and SQL (PostgreSQL).
Paul is also a qualified Business and Lifestyle coach (International Coaching Federation approved coach).
James Cheshire, Professor of Geographic Information and Cartography in the UCL Department of Geography and the inaugural director of the UCL Social Data Institute.
A world-leading map maker and geographer, his cartographic creations have been enjoyed by millions. He is an elected fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and has been recognised with awards from the likes of the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and the British Cartographic Society.
James has made significant contributions to the social sciences, particularly in spatial data analysis and visualisation. His research portfolio is extensive and interdisciplinary, covering topics such as behavioural changes during COVID-19, cartographic representation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and innovative visualisations of population datasets. His work has been supported by over £15 million in research funding, and he has helped to create data and mapping portals that have been widely used in education and policy. He also oversees a world-leading programme of data intensive teaching to undergraduates in the social sciences, which includes a thriving internship scheme.
Matthew Hopkins, Managing Director, Didobi Limited
Matthew co-founded Didobi (www.didobi.com) in 2018. Didobi is a ‘swarm’ of independent strategic advisers to the Built Environment and commercial real estate, harnessing data and research with expert insights for the benefit of corporate and public organisations. He also co-founded Income Analytics, a tenant income risk platform, in 2020 (www.incans.com) and was a founding director of The Local Data Company in 2009 (www.localdatacompany.com).
Matthew is a recognised authority and practioner on the interpretation of data and on the UK’s built environment be it commercial real estate research to the form and function of towns and cities. He co-authored the 2013 and 2018 Grimsey Reviews and was research partner for Amazon’s ‘Clicks and Mortar’ initiative. He has worked with the Greater London Authority and London Boroughs on evidence bases for night time economies along with research into night workers. Didobi also carries out research on Life Sciences across the UK, Europe and Asia Pacific.
His recent work in Ireland, Cornwall and the Isle of Man has been on the creation of evaluation and monitoring of towns through the collation and interpretation of data leveraging the latest technologies to create a clear understanding of the performance of places.
Matthew is Honorary Professor of Practice at University College London and the Chairman of Emu Analytics, a digital twin software company based in London and is a Board adviser to a new data intelligence start-up, Evaluate Locate which is also London based.