CPD, training and skills in Local and Regional Economic Development
Expert knowledge, proven frameworks, and practical tools for local authority officers, consultants, and practitioners delivering regional growth strategies, innovation programmes, and place-based policy – built from 32 years of working in the field
- 15 hours of on-demand courses covering the 8 disciplines of local and regional economic development
- Practical workbooks (e.g. FDI from scratch; develop a great project idea)
- Community, chatrooms, discussion
- Mentoring and coaching support
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
- Skills and training in local and regional economic development
The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook
The Practitioner’s Guide for Everyone Whose Work Shapes Places and Economies
Whether you work in planning, property, higher education, skills, government, or community development — the economic forces reshaping UK places are directly reshaping your work. And if you work in economic development itself, you’ve never had a handbook like this one.
The Local & Regional Economic Development Handbook is the comprehensive, honest, practitioner-authored guide to how local economies work, why economic development so often fails to deliver what it promises, and what those working in and around the field can do differently.
Endorsements
“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.
“From what I have seen already, this has the potential to create a step change 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.”
Adam Breeze, Breeze Strategy
“2026 has to be the year that economic development professionals take the important steps, from policy comment, strategic views, to decisive practictioner application and delivery. Critical is to have an accessible platform for CPD, training, and a focused community to ask questions and discuss best practice and aspects of local and regional economic development. I am delighted that an established and respected colleague Glenn Athey has founded and created this resource on www.economicdevelopment.world .”
Mark Pearson, Head of Economic Development, Reading's Economy & Destination Agency (REDA)
Want Local and Regional Economic Development Strategies that Actually Get Implemented?
Want to Persuade Political Leaders to Invest in Economic Development?
Struggling to Make the Case for Innovation Funding?
Founded by Glenn Athey, an Economic Development Professional and Advisor With 32 Years of Supporting UK Economic Development
LPIP Fellow, University of Birmingham
Author of "The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook"
Latest News and Advice
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...
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 “𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆” 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘆
Most economic developers treat net zero as a compliance exercise. They shouldn't. Here's what the evidence actually shows: Green industries in the UK already contribute £71 billion in GVA. They support 840,000 jobs at an average wage of £42,600 (versus £33,400...
External news
Local Economies (UK): UK borrowing costs rise as Starmer speech fails to dispel investor ‘jitters’
Source: Local Economies (UK) Author: Tom Knowles Date published: 2026-05-11 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The cost of government borrowing has crept higher as Keir Starmer’s crucial speech failed to dispel investor “jitters” in the bond...
City Economies: Partnership for New York City Warns of Job Losses in Higher-Tax Environment
Source: City Economies Author: Paul Bubny Date published: 2026-05-11 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The Partnership for New York City warned in a new report Monday that proposed changes to New York’s business and tax environment could mean...
Combined Authorities (England): Simpler, shared system for describing skills needs launched
Source: Combined Authorities (England) Author: unknown Date published: 2026-05-11 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] A new comprehensive way of identifying and describing skills needs will help employers, training providers, job seekers, and...
Econ Dev Show Podcast – Economic Development: Economic Development 218: What Site Selectors Wish Economic Developers Understood with Mark Williams
Source: Econ Dev Show Podcast - Economic Development Author: unknown Date published: 2026-05-11 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Social Network Quick Links View original article at:
ICLEI: Who gets a say: How cities are engaging those often left out
Source: ICLEI Author: Barbara Riedemann Date published: 2026-05-11 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Cities within the Malmö Commitment on Inclusive and Equitable Communities are undertaking their journey to understand what equity means in...
Centre for Cities: City Talks: Devolution’s next steps
Source: Centre for Cities Author: unknown Date published: 2026-05-11 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Ant Breach, Director of Policy and Research, to discuss devolution following the passing of the...