Grace Brown

North West Employers and community wealth building

CLES Associate Director Tom Lloyd Goodwin spoke to councillors from a range of localities from across the North West about community wealth building on Wednesday 12th June, at a session hosted by North West Employers.

The session included an introductory presentation followed by a Q&A and an opportunity to for participants to consider how the principles of community wealth building could be applied in their respective localities.

Read More

Britain in 2030 Conference

CLES Senior Researcher Victoria Bettany will take part in a panel discussion on ‘devolution as a way towards prosperity’ at Exploring Economics’ Britain in 2030 conference on Tuesday 4th June.

This year’s conference will deal with the challenges that Britain and the world face in 2019, and also look at the solutions needed in order to create a prosperous Britain in 2030. There will be a full day of learning across 16 talks, workshops, and development sessions that will delve into topics including Climate Change, the NHS, Housing, the Role of Technology in the 21st Century, Inequality and Devolution.

Read More

What Makes an Economy Good? CLES CEO at Edge Hill University

CLES Chief Executive Neil McInroy delivered a talk at Edge Hill University on 30th April about what makes an economy good.

Neil outlined how our global and local economies are going wrong: failing to work within planetary limits and incapable of creating security and prosperity for all. Detailing CLES UK and international work on Community Wealth Building, he discussed how the growing movement is making a difference.

Read More

Sino-Euro Think Tank Symposium

CLES will host the Sino-Euro Think Tank Symposium 2019, in collaboration with the Sino Euro Think Tank Communication Association, on 13th – 20th July 2019.

The first of its kind, the Symposium with bring researchers, policy advisers and practitioners together to engage in a constructive dialogue while exploring potential partnerships in order to promote the communication and cooperation of think tanks in China and Europe.

Read More

Community Wealth Building in Sunderland

CLES Chief Executive Neil McInroy and Researcher Jonty Leibowitz led a workshop for anchor institutions in Sunderland to explore possibilities for collaboration through Community Wealth Building.

Attendees included senior representatives from organisations on the Sunderland Partnership, including:

  • Sunderland City Council;
  • Gentoo;
  • Northumbria Police;
  • Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue; and

More Inside …

Read More

CLES is Recruiting!

Researcher/Senior Researcher

Central Manchester

£18,000k – £36,000k pa (dependent on experience) Permanent post (37.5hrs).

Note: We are recruiting for only one position and will appoint depending on the experience of the successful applicant.

Progressive economics for people and place

Established in 1986, the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) is the UK’s leading, independent think and do tank realising progressive economics for people and place. Our aim is to achieve social justice, good local economies and effective public services for everyone, everywhere. It is an exciting time to join the CLES team as our work continues to diversify and our influence grows.

Read More

Cooperatives for the Many

On Friday 5th April, CLES Researcher Grace Brown took part in a workshop session on New Municipalism and Cooperative Development at this year’s Ways Forward: Cooperatives for the Many Conference.

This conference was inspired by a variety of activities that have been attracting attention recently: the rise of ‘new municipalism’ epitomised by what’s happening in cities as diverse as Preston and Barcelona; grassroots activism centred around ideas of the solidarity economy and community wealth building; as well as the ongoing buzz around the potential of platform co-operatives.

Read More

Are inclusive growth and economic justice the same thing?

CLES CEO, Neil McInroy, and Metro Dynamics Associate Director, Alex Gardiner, recently discussed the concept of inclusive growth for the Centre for Progressive Policy.

The Centre for Progressive Policy believes that a new, more inclusive approach to growth is needed, harnessing the best of central and local government to build on the assets and opportunities of place. The CPP define inclusive growth as moving away from the current approach of ‘grow now, redistribute later’, instead challenging us to see how we can structure the economy more fairly to make it work for all from the start.

Read More

NHS as an Anchor: Expert Advisory Group Meeting

On Wednesday 20th March, CLES Chief Executive Neil McInroy and Associate Directors, Frances Jones and Tom Lloyd Goodwin, attended the Expert Advisory Group meeting for the NHS Anchor project.

As well as providing a summary of the research so far, there were also reflections on the findings and implications for the NHS. This included looking at how to take the work forward, identifying next steps and opportunities from the NHS Long Term Plan. 

Read More

Birmingham Anchor Network Gets Underway

On Thursday 28th March, CLES will begin a series of sessions for procurement and employment professionals from six of Birmingham’s key Anchor Institutions.

Building on CLES’ previous Local Wealth Building work in Birmingham, funded by Barrow Cadbury in 2017, the Anchors have come together to develop their own Anchor Strategies but also to collaborate to combine their significant economic influence to shape a more equitable economy in the city.

Read More

Realising the Potential of Universities as Anchor Institutions

On Thursday 21st March, CLES hosted a workshop session with universities and key organisations from the Higher Education sector to help shape a new programme of work.

As we launch our Local Wealth Building Centre of Excellence, we want to expand on the work of the of the past decade with individual universities in places such as Preston, Birmingham and Leeds, by working across the Higher Education sector to advance this agenda.

Read More

Food Poverty Action Plan for Greater Manchester

Food Poverty is a significant challenge in Greater Manchester. Over 200,000 children experience poverty in Greater Manchester, and food bank use is higher than in other areas. Councils have had their budgets slashed, and the NHS is under severe pressure from food poverty related conditions, with poor diet contributing to diabetes, cancer, cardio vascular disease, and obesity as well as malnutrition.

On Monday 4th March, CLES Senior Researcher Matthew Todd attended the launch of the Food Poverty Action Plan for Greater Manchester at Methodist Central Hall in Manchester. The Action Plan has been co-produced with input from over 100 individuals and organisations (a selection of whom are shown on the graphic) and was coordinated by GM Poverty action.

Read More

World Health Organisation Expert Report on Advancing Health Equity and Well-being

In November 2018, CLES Associate Director Tom Lloyd Goodwin attended the Expert Meeting on Protecting Investments in Health and Maximizing New Opportunities to Advance Health Equity and Well-being in Venice, Italy. The report from this meeting has now been published.

Tom shared CLES’ experience in working with local communities in England to change their procurement processes. He shared expertise from CLES’ work with Manchester from 2007 and in Preston from 2012, and described the challenges facing authorities to juggle cost and efficiency pressures in procurement.

Read More