Join the No. 1 Economic Development Community

Economic Development World provides:

9

Insights, guidance and professional development resources

9

Free foundation course on local and regional economic development

9

Online videos, courses, podcasts

9

Lean learning: learn what you want when you need it

Use the form below to send us a message

Our experts

Glenn Athey Portrait

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.”

Skills Development Scotland

“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.”

Warwickshire County Council

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲: 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲: 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

The transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy isn't just a necessity—it's the biggest growth opportunity of the 21st century! Across local and regional economic development, we're seeing "the art of the possible" come to life as communities embrace innovative...

Get your offer out in a language that business understands

Get your offer out in a language that business understands

𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 "𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻" 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀? 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮? 🚀 The word "innovation" can sometimes feel vague or lead to a narrow focus on R&D without a clear path to commercial success. What if we reframed the...

𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟰 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 – 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲” 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲

𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟰 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 – 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲” 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲

One thing I’m enjoying about my LPIP Fellow research project is the chance to get stuck into some research disciplines and specialisms that I’ve not really spent much time in before. Over the past two weeks I’ve been deep into the “Policy Failure” field of research....

International Lessons From City Deals

International Lessons From City Deals

𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 I was lucky to participate in a 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 last week. Here are the key lessons from the UK and Australia on City Deals. It was a chance to reflect on the great report I wrote with Professor...

Best Practice Economic Development Organisations Don’t Just Implement Programs

Best Practice Economic Development Organisations Don’t Just Implement Programs

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Organisations 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦. Here’s the behaviours I've seen from 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 economic development organisations: 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻:...