The principles of community wealth building

Since 1986, CLES has been working with people across the UK and internationally, who can imagine a better way of organising our local economies, and making it a reality.

Community wealth building is a response to the contemporary challenges of austerity, financialisation and automation. It seeks to provide resilience where there is risk and local economic security where there is precarity.

Collaborating with progressive places, such as Manchester and Preston, we have developed tried and tested strategies based on five key principles:

CLES is at the forefront of community wealth building, working together with people across the globe.

Read our publications, case studies and policy work on community wealth building →

Anchor Institutions

The term ‘anchor institutions’ is used to refer to organisations which have an important presence in a place, usually through a combination of: being largescale employers, the largest purchasers of goods and services in the locality, controlling large areas of land and having relatively fixed assets.

Anchor institutions are often tied to a particular place by their mission, histories, physical assets and local relationships.Examples include local authorities, NHS trusts, universities, trade unions, large local businesses, the combined activities of the community and voluntary sector and housing associations.

Guided by community wealth building principles, anchor institutions can play a defining role in creating and reinforcing local economic ties.

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