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
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 ‘𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮’ 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
You have a brilliant economic development plan. You present it to the City Council, the Board, or the Regiona/State Committee, and it dies a slow, bureaucratic death. Why? Because getting the green light to proceed in economic development is a game of two halves: 1)...
𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨
At Economic Development World, we like to think "what if" and how we'd respond professionally to a challenge. Here's our thoughts on this one - what would you do? 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 £𝟤𝟢𝟢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵—𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦...
Beyond the Brochure: Elevating your Investment Attraction Game
I'm writing and recording the video lessons for the new Economic Development Community of Practice I'm launching later this year over at economicdevelopment.world One of the issues that causes me endless frustration is that many localities in the UK fail to get beyond...
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...
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. 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:...
External news
Local Growth and the United Kingdom: Billions to go directly to small businesses across the country as government sets new targets for spending
Source: Local Growth and the United Kingdom Author: unknown Date published: 2026-03-24 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Small businesses across the country are set to benefit from over £7.4 billion of Government money a year by 2028...
Local Economies (UK): London wins the prestigious global 2026 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize
Source: Local Economies (UK) Author: 2026-03-24T08:24:13+0000 Date published: 2026-03-24 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] London recognised for world-class innovation, strategic leadership and transformative urban development. The capital...
Combined Authorities (England): The People’s Network: South Yorkshire Takes Back Control of Transport
Source: Combined Authorities (England) Author: Jane Thomas Date published: 2026-03-23 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Like a phoenix rising the people of former “socialist republic of South Yorkshire” now have their own transport network I...
Regional Economies: The Iran oil crisis is the worst energy shock ever recorded. World leaders aren’t ready, says IEA chief
Source: Regional Economies Author: Jake Angelo Date published: 2026-03-23 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The oil crises of the 1970s prompted a range of policy changes that still exist today. For one, we invented the high occupancy vehicle...
Combined Authorities (England): How the Midlands Defence and Security Industry Council is set to boost jobs and regional growth
Source: Combined Authorities (England) Author: unknown Date published: 2026-03-23 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] As the Midlands continues to strengthen its role in the UK’s defence future, we reflect on the Midlands Defence and Security...
Econ Dev Show Podcast – Economic Development: How a Town of 30,000 Competes (and Wins) in Economic Development with Tim Hanigan
Source: Econ Dev Show Podcast - Economic Development Author: unknown Date published: 2026-03-23 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Social Network Quick Links View original article at: