What is an anchor institution?

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

The term ‘anchor institutions’ is used to refer to organisations which:

  1. 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/or having relatively fixed assets.
  2. Are 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.

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