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
Sign up now for news, special offers and exclusive content
Subscribe to our mailing list to get early access and discounts
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 “𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲” 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲
𝗧𝗵𝗲 "𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲" 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 Stop me if you've heard this before: "AI is coming for everyone's jobs, we need to prepare for mass unemployment." Here's the problem with that thinking - it's...
December 2025 UK Economic Outlook and Annual Review
In this article, I outline the headlines from the latest ONS statistics and business confidence surveys and also reflect on the Autumn budget and what this means for 2026. Key Economic Insights: Global slowdown continues: IMF forecasts growth falling from 3.3% (2024)...
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘁)
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘁) Does your local economy have plenty of labour demand and desperate employers who can’t get the workforce and skills they need? As well as unemployed residents who “can’t find work?” The problem isn’t lack of jobs. It’s that we fundamentally misunderstand how […]
Build your own SMART objectives with our toolkit
“𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆.” “𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵.” “𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽.” 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿? In 31 years of economic development work, I’ve learned one hard truth: 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦. Sharpen up your objectives 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 – download the workbook by registering here. The single feature that separates successful initiatives […]
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘁)
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘁) Does your local economy have plenty of labour demand and desperate employers who can't get the workforce and skills they need? As well as unemployed residents who "can't find work?" The problem...
Build your own SMART objectives with our toolkit
"𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆." "𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵." "𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽." 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿? In 31 years of economic development work, I've learned one hard truth: 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦. Sharpen up your objectives 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸...