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.”
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...