Books For Economic Development Professionals
The Local And Regional Economic Development Handbook: Build Prosperous, Sustainable and Inclusive Local Economies
Everything the field expects you to know — in one reference you can trust, for the whole of your career.
Read it once and you’ll have the grounding the job assumes you already have. Keep it on your desk and you’ll reach for it for years — when you’re making the economic case to elected members, testing a business plan that has to stack up, designing a programme that needs to deliver, or briefing a partner who’s relying on you to know. Thirty-two years of UK practice, distilled into a single working reference that spans every discipline in the field and shows you how the work actually gets done. Whatever your role in shaping places and economies, this is the book that makes you more confident, more credible, and more effective — in the room and on the ground.
Prosperity In Every Postcode: Build Organisations That Turn Devolution Into Economic Development and Growth
Learn how to set up the organisations and teams that can discover and implement best practice themselves, and continually improve.
Power, money and responsibility are moving to mayors, combined authorities and councils – the opportunity places have been asking for. The places that thrive will be the ones that build the capability to use it well: sound evidence, strong relationships, well-designed programmes, disciplined delivery and continuous learning. All of it is buildable, and this book shows how.This book is not a strategy document and it is not a toolkit. There are no holy grails of local and regional economic development: no formula, no transplantable model, no single lever that works everywhere. What there is, instead, is a set of disciplines and capabilities that make institutions great at delivery. Prosperity in Every Postcode is an operating philosophy for the people responsible for the results.
Testimonials and Team
Glenn (BA, MA, PhD) has 31 years of experience in local, city and regional economic development and regeneration.
This includes executive leadership, project development and leadership, area visioning programmes, leading partnerships, and economic analysis and insight.
Glenn has held senior roles at Futureskills Scotland, London Development Agency, Centre for Cities, The East of England Development Agency, and Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP.
Glenn also heads up a consultancy practice at Mylocaleconomy; and contributes to the Local Skills Improvement Partnership.
"A Fabulous Resource For Our Industry"
“A big shout out to Glenn Athey who has taken his many years in economic development consultancy and created Economic Development World (www.economicdevelopment.world), the UK’s first online community for local and regional economic development that provides CPD, on-demand lean learning, a community of peers and workbooks. Built on three pillars of accelerated learning, shared knowledge and community support, it is a fabulous resource for our industry. Have a look at Glenn’s video tour at: https://economicdevelopment.world/take-a-video-tour-of-economic-development-world/
“From what I have seen already, this has the potential to create a stepchange in how the UK delivers economic development, putting the skills and development of practitioners, whether newbies or old hands, front and centre.
“Get yourselves signed up, get involved and support this great initiative.”
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
In the late 1990s I spent the best part of two years inside the engine rooms of economic development. I interviewed chief executives, directors and managers of development agencies in Scotland, London, Belfast and Berlin for my doctorate, and I went looking for the...
𝗥𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗵𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗲. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄?
Before the promise of local and regional devolution and integrated funding settlements, when money came in competitive pots with the criteria written in Whitehall, the shape of your programme was somebody else's fault and the honest appraisal was somebody else's job....
25% off handbook and new book on delivery out on 28 September
Paperback Edition of The Local and Regional Economic Development September Sale! £31.99 UK + P&P I've sourced another high quality print on demand service at bookvault which allows me to give email subscribers discount coupon codes! Head over to the Great...
Do you want to be great at economic development?
I mean the question literally, and I think everyone in this field should answer it. Not “do you want your place to prosper” – everyone wants that, the way everyone wants good weather. I mean: does your institution intend to become genuinely excellent at the discipline...
𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀
Not because they weren't smart. Not because they didn't work hard. But because nobody had ever explained to them what economic development actually is. What is the mission? What is the function? What are the dilemmas you'll face when public purpose and private...
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁? 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴
I sat in meetings early in my career where decisions were being made and I didn't know the local backstory. Who had tried what before? Why certain approaches had been abandoned? What are the political sensitivities? What the community actually needed versus what...