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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
๐๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ – ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ’๐ ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ณ๐๐น ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐
The evidence is clear: successful industrial clusters generate genuine competitive advantages. Firms in Oxfordshire's Motorsport Valley are 6x more productive than isolated competitors. Research Triangle Park transformed North Carolina from textile dependence into a...
๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ
Local leaders often say they can't afford to invest in economic development. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ญ โ ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ'๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น: ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ...
Will the UK’s ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฌ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ “๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐” be coming back to work?
Since COVID, 850,000 people in the UK withdrew from the active labour market. This massive rise in economic inactivity has happened at the same time that policy has tightened controls on hiring overseas workers, and the UK's further and adult education system has been...
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...