With Frances Northropp of the New Economics Foundation.
Highlights:
- Preston City Council started to look at how they might do things differently and use their own resources to kick-start a different kind of economy. It started through procurement – i.e. how could they procure from local small firms – but also, where there were gaps in the local economy, to start cooperatives.
- The concept of the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ is the same old idea of attracting outside investment, building big, sweeping away the ‘old’, then everything gets gentrified, and there’s less space for more creative networks of smaller businesses and enterprises, and local activity generally.
- Most councils go with big players like Capita and until recently Carillion, and so that is a massive barrier.
Links:
Preston on the Preston Model
Cleveland Model
Transcript on LowImpact.org.