communities

  • RESEARCH

    Time to Build an Inclusive Local Economy

    30th May 2019
    Recommendations for change to advance an inclusive economy focused on community wealth building, social justice, environmental sus...
  • The Rich List reveals that we need wealth for all

    The spectacle of this year’s Sunday Times Rich List has revealed, yet again, that Britain’s richest are getting richer still. Published yesterday, the list shows that Britain’s 1,000 richest individuals and families are sitting on record wealth of £771.3bn, up £47.8bn in a year. The UK’s billionaire count has climbed to 151, up six on last year. The threshold at which the super-rich make the list has risen £5m to £120m.[1]

    In other news (from the same paper on the same day) we learn that an emergency food bank has been set up in the Whitehall offices of a government department, after cleaners and other support staff became the victims of a payroll blunder by one of Britain’s biggest outsourcing companies.[2] The human cost of this incident adds to the growing number of people in the UK who cannot afford basic needs such as food.[3]

    Rebuilding the local economy in Britain’s Seaside Towns

    If ever there was an example that epitomises the misery imposed by market neo-liberalism, it’s the plight of Britain’s seaside towns.

    Decades of agglomeration has led to the incubation of ‘superstar cities’ such as Manchester, leaving places like Blackpool and Rhyl deprived and depleted. As CLES reported on in 2017,  the last vestiges of their seaside heritage are now enveloped by a coil of ever-tightening social and economic decline.

  • RESEARCH

    CLES is 30

    23rd June 2016
    The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) has been at the forefront of undertaking incisive policy research and analysis for...
  • Five ways to bring money and investment into your local area

    Crowdfunding isn’t the only way to get projects off the ground. There are other ways to encourage investment. With government grants disappearing and banks more reluctant to fund small businesses, local communities are seeking new ways to find investment.

  • CLES 10

    Community Wealth Building: Harnessing the potential of anchor institutions

    23rd March 2016
    Our historic and contemporary work around anchor institutions has led to a realisation that in times of economic uncertainty and a...
  • CLES 10

    Devolution: A Historical and Global context

    8th September 2015
    It is imperative that new governance structures actively accommodate the voices of citizens and the social economy; yet, it is onl...
  • BULLETIN

    Party manifestos review 2015

    22nd April 2015
    The bulletin summarises the key sections and themes of all party manifestos relevant to local socio-economic growth, and indicate ...
  • RESEARCH

    CLES Manifesto for local economies

    17th March 2015
    This CLES Manifesto is underpinned by our values and principles and is based on the experience of our work in local economies over...
  • RESEARCH

    Austerity Uncovered

    16th January 2015
    This report is based on research by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), commissioned by the TUC. It is designed to lo...