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We provide insights based on our experience and current work and discuss what changes in policy mean for our localities, regions and cities
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐)
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐) Does your local economy have plenty of labour demand and desperate employers who can't get the workforce and skills they need? As well as unemployed residents who "can't find work?" The problem...
Build your own SMART objectives with our toolkit
"๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐." "๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต." "๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ." ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฟ? In 31 years of economic development work, I've learned one hard truth: ๐ท๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ. Sharpen up your objectives ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ...
14 Years of Economic Development Consultancy – What’s Next?
Today marks a significant milestone for me โ 14 years since I launched my consultancy business! It's been an incredible journey, and I'm proud of the impact I've been able to make in economic development for cities, regions, and local areas. My career in numbers...
Create high-performing organisations with a high impact: lessons for the new Combined Authorities in England
๐๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ฌ ๐พ๐ค๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐พ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ญ. ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐. CAs were completely new, untested in their local areas, given new funds, powers & responsibilities. ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐. Many CAs...
Is your business and stakeholder engagement too low? tips and advice to address this
๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ค๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ To maximise participation in workshops, interviews, and surveys, pitch relevant questions and repeat online events. Consider purchasing business samples from marketing databases to expand reach. ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ตโ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ...
Lessons in Industrial Cluster Policy from Eight Countries
Iโve been taking a deep dive on industry cluster development policies and delivery! Here are the highlights of best practice for industrial cluster development, drawing from eight countries and regionsโฆ Ireland: Clear, Consistent, and Long-Term Strategic...
7 Lessons for Enterprise and FDI Support from a Programme Review
A couple of years ago I helped a region review its approach to enterprise and business growth and inward investment promotion. One of my key observations was that โ this region is renowned for being a tech and business success, but in reality this success was in a...
๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ โ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐’๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉโ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค…!
How come? well, by saying that - the person probably is doing so from the point of defensive ignorance. How do they know they don't need Local Economic Development? And how do they know that things will never change? Hint: they do. Local Economic Development (LED) is...
๐ฝ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐พ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐: ๐๐๐ 7 ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ
To be able to pivot your portfolio of economic development activities and funding streams once a market or economic crisis unfolds - you need to be forewarned of the changes taking place, or at least keep pace with them once they are underway. To keep ahead of...
3 ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐ฉ ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฟ๐ค ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง๐
Folks, that 100-page report full of stats, charts (and hopefully analysis telling us what it means) about your local economy was not meant to sit on your shelf gathering dust! I've lost count of the number of cracking economic reviews I've done for clients to support...
๐๐๐ฎ “๐๐ D๐ค๐ฃ’๐ฉ B๐๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฃ P๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ W๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐จ” ๐๐จ ๐ F๐๐ก๐จ๐ A๐ง๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ
๐๐๐ฎ "๐๐ D๐ค๐ฃ'๐ฉ B๐๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐จ" ๐๐จ ๐ F๐๐ก๐จ๐ A๐ง๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ C๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ: W๐ต๐ G๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ H๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป I๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น P๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ W๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ E๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ N๐ผ๐ Dani Rodrik (Harvard University) argues that governments are "doomed to choose" and inevitably engage in industrial...
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฝ๐ค๐ค๐ ๐ฝ๐ช๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐จ ๐พ๐๐จ๐…
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฝ๐ค๐ค๐ ๐ฝ๐ช๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐จ ๐พ๐๐จ๐...๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ. Clients often approach people like me at the 'concept stage' of the business case process with project pitches like, โWe need to do something...