The late, and by some, lamented comedian Bob Monkhouse was wont to remark his harshest critics thought he would never become a successful comedian.

'And they're not laughing now,' was his self-deprecatory punchline. In similar fashion, the Cabinet Office's Behavioural Insights Unit (BIT), once famously derided by the columnist Ben Goldacre as the 'wackiest and most vogueish corner of government' – defied critics by securing contracts to sell its expertise.