Community wealth building through anchor institutions

This 2017 report documents 6 years of local wealth building work with anchor institutions in Preston. The report provides inspiration and practical ideas for organisations and places seeking to use procurement to recirculate wealth locally.

Places across the UK are striving to find new ways of attracting wealth, enhancing economic growth and addressing poverty. For the CLES, the attraction of wealth is important; but of equal importance is understanding and harnessing existing wealth for the benefit of local economies and communities. Anchor institutions are central to the concept of community wealth building as a result of the scale of the jobs they provide, the scale of spend through procurement, their land and assets, and the fact that they are unlikely to leave that place. CLES are the pioneers of policy and practice around anchor institutions in the UK.

This publication reflects on work undertaken collaboratively in just one locality and particularly details: what CLES has done; what we have achieved; what still needs to be done; and what other places can learn.

Read press release here.