Join the No. 1 Economic Development Community
Economic Development World provides:
Insights, guidance and professional development resources
Free foundation course on local and regional economic development
Online videos, courses, podcasts
Lean learning: learn what you want when you need it
Use the form below to send us a message
Our experts
Glenn Athey
Glenn (BA, MA, PhD) has 32 years of experience in local and regional skills and labour market policy and analysis. 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.
Our Clients are Superfans
“Glenn delivers high quality advice and insights based on years of experience with no fuss, he just delivers the results you need.”
“
“Glenn’s work is highly professional, demonstrating a very high level of stakeholder management, workshop and facilitation skills.”
Local London
“Glenn is an uber-consultant, a cut above the rest.”
UK Innovation Corridor
“Glenn, Mike and Hannah delivered us a high quality and locally focused employment, careers and skills strategy and action plan that allows us to take our approach and reputation for skills to the next level.”
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄: 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀
Political pronouncements don't shift markets unless they are backed by tangible co-investment, legislation, incentives, changes to tax codes and/or demand stimulus This is the first article in a regular weekly series, where I reflect on a common issue that I see a lot...
Free Executive Track Course in February: Poverty, Inclusion and Inequality
We've just made the Executive Track course module on poverty, inclusion and inequalities free on ourCPD site - which can be accessed by joining with the free membership 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙧 tier at https://www.economicdevelopment.world/joinThis 1 h course includes a workbook to...
Best Practice Supporting Industries and Clusters
The book I'm launching next month - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 - is packed with practical advice and case studies. Here's a sample of what's in the book regarding industrial clusters...The UK has oscillated between active industrial strategy...
𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 – 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝟱 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝘆 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀
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 £17 billion innovation economy. Denmark’s professionalised clusters consistently outperform regions without them. Yet cluster initiatives can sometimes fail to deliver. Why? […]
𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲
Local leaders often say they can’t afford to invest in economic development. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 – 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶 𝗥𝗼𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗸’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹: 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. Consider what […]
𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻
After reviewing dozens of local skills plans, I see the same fundamental misunderstandings repeated. Here's what actually matters: 𝟭. 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 An aerospace manufacturer needs accountants, IT staff, administrators, and delivery drivers - not just...