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
𝘽𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙙𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙋𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨
While the social justice argument for tackling poverty is undeniable, there are equally powerful economic justifications for why it must be a central pillar of local and regional development strategies. Here's why addressing poverty is smart economics: 𝟭. **𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿...
Ready to Elevate Your Economic Development Game?
𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙀𝙭𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙏𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙩 👇 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: Stop wasting time on vague priorities. The Toolkit provides a proven methodology to transform fuzzy ideas into crystal-clear, measurable, and impactful...
Create high-performing organisations with a high impact: lessons for the new Combined Authorities in England
𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝟭. 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. CAs were completely new, untested in their local areas, given new funds, powers & responsibilities. 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝘆. Many CAs struggled to establish this on the rapid timescales involved. A challenge, I know, but the […]
Is your business and stakeholder engagement too low? tips and advice to address this
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 To maximise participation in workshops, interviews, and surveys, pitch relevant questions and repeat online events. Consider purchasing business samples from marketing databases to expand reach. 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵’𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽: 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀: ** Tailor questions to different groups.** Piggyback on existing meetings and events… […]
Delivering the UK Industrial Strategy: Lessons From The Rest of the World
𝘿𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙆'𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 (𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩 2035): 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 The UK's new Industrial Strategy, with its welcome focus on city regions and clusters, sets an ambitious course. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺...
𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙙 – 𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙂𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙩𝙝 𝘼𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙆!
Got an email from UKRI yesterday - with the pre-announcement of the upcoming £500m Local Innovation Partnerships Fund.This is a major opportunity to boost local and regional innovation, growth and competitiveness!𝘿𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙙 (𝙎𝙄𝙋𝙁)I worked...
External news
Combined Authorities (England): University joins forces with key partners to launch £20m bid to supercharge regional economy
Source: Combined Authorities (England) Author: unknown Date published: 2026-03-16 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] University joins forces with key partners to launch £20m bid to supercharge regional economy Posted on 16 March 2026 The...
Econ Dev Show Podcast – Economic Development: Economic Development 212: How Incentives Really Influence Site Selection with Taylor Stepp
Source: Econ Dev Show Podcast - Economic Development Author: unknown Date published: 2026-03-16 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Social Network Quick Links View original article at:
Local Growth and the United Kingdom: Tourist taxes can boost economic growth across the UK
Source: Local Growth and the United Kingdom Author: ReasonableDisk5499 Date published: 2026-03-16 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] submitted by /u/ReasonableDisk5499[link][comments] View original article at:
Combined Authorities (England): Mayor unveils £1.5bn ‘People’s Network’ transport plan for South Yorkshire
Source: Combined Authorities (England) Author: Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent Date published: 2026-03-16 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] South Yorkshire’s transport system will be known as the “People’s Network”, with trams, buses and...
Combined Authorities (England): ‘The West Midlands will tell a story of momentum,’ Mayor says as region set to take centre stage at UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) 2026
Source: Combined Authorities (England) Author: Beverly Rademacher Date published: 2026-03-15 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Under the banner of ‘Momentum and Delivery: It Starts Here,’ the West Midlands delegation is heading to Leeds for...
Regional Economies: India plans to launch $11 billion fund to support domestic chipmaking
Source: Regional Economies Author: unknown Date published: 2026-03-12 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] By Sankalp Phartiyal India plans to unveil a more than ₹1 trillion ($10.8 billion) fund aimed at bolstering domestic chipmaking,...