Quick nudge 👇 Is the NEET crisis a skills problem or a system design failure? Our latest LED Confidential Espresso Shot is all about the Milburn Review and what its interim findings means for local economic development.

Alan Milburn's interim review names 1 million young people as not in employment, education or training ('NEET') with ill health now a major driver. Our new LED Confidential episode asks whether this is a youth employment challenge or a place-based failure of governance

Quick nudge 👇 Are we planning for growth or resilience? Check out our latest LED Confidential podcast episode on health life expectancy, productivity and place.

What happens to economic growth strategies when the length of healthy working lives is shrinking? Our new LED Confidential podcast episode explores healthy life expectancy as an economic constraint and why prevention, not just growth, may now sit at the heart of local strategy.

Have we underestimated how much professional capacity matters in local growth? Following the publication of the Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook, David Marlow and I talk to author Glenn Athey about what practitioners actually need to do the job well.

What does professional capacity in local economic development actually look like today? With Glenn Athey, we explore why delivery is so hard right now and what practitioners need to rebuild the craft: (1) skills + judgment, (2) curiosity + engagement and (3) getting out from behind the desk

Worth catching up on 👇 Our latest LED Confidential podcast episode: does the new devolution settlement accelerate progress — or freeze inequalities between places?

The Devolution & Community Empowerment Act is now law but what does that mean for places not on the fast track? In our new LED Confidential podcast episode David Marlow and I ask if England is heading towards a completed devolution map or a two‑speed system that leaves areas waiting indefinitely.

Quick nudge 👇 Are post‑election local politics now something investors price in? Check out our latest LED Confidential podcast episode on governance, confidence and delivery risk.

What signals are investors taking from the 7 May English local elections? Our new LED Confidential podcast episode looks at whether political volatility is just democratic noise or increasingly seen as delivery risk, and what LED professionals can do to signal continuity when things feel unsettled.

If you haven't already - check our latest Espreso Shot episode of LED Confidential in which David Marlow and I explore the place dimension of AI, including why AI adoption strategies may matter most for the places that aren’t obvious magnets for AI investment. 👇

How are the opportunities and risks of AI being handled in your local economic development and skills plans? And is AI likely to widen disparities between regions, and within them? In our latest short episode of LED Confidential, David Marlow and I explore the place dimension of AI.

If you haven't already check out our new LED Confidential podcast episode with East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward! We talk building Combined Authorities from scratch while delivering for residents, fiscal devolution in England, and the value that mayors can bring to public services reform

So - a big coup for LED Confidential...East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward joined me and David Marlow on the podcast for an extended discussion on her experience of being a first-term Mayor, and what it takes to build a Combined Authority from scratch! 🎧 Listen now on all good podcast platforms!

In our latest LED Confidential podcast episode, David Marlow and I explore what the Chancellor’s Mais Lecture signals for fiscal devolution to England's regions, and the unanswered questions this raises 👇 🎧 Listen now on all good podcast platforms!

In our latest LED Confidential podcast episode, David Marlow and I ask: what do the announcements on fiscal devolution in Rachel Reeves' Mais Lecture actually mean for local economic development and place making practitioners?

In our latest short LED Confidential podcast episode, David Marlow and I unpack the latest government decisions on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) 👇

In late March the UK Government announced a major new Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) decisions for parts of the east and south east of England — with big implications for local economic development and place making. David Marlow and I unpack the issues in our latest LED Confidential pod

From note‑takers that can turn a full‑day workshops into briefings in minutes, to tools that compare reports and spot gaps in business cases – AI is already helping LED professionals in their work. In our podcast David Marlow and I explore how far we should go and the risks if we lean on it too much

In our latest 10-minute LED Confidential episode, David Marlow and I reflect on how we're using AI in our own work – where it is adding value and where it's gone wrong...

Is the recent rise of the Green Party a short‑term thing or a deeper shift that could reshape how we do local economic development? In our latest 10-minute LED Confidential podcast episode, David Marlow and I look at what the “Green wave” could mean for LED and placemaking practice.

Is the recent rise of the Green Party in England and Wales a short‑term thing or a deeper shift that could reshape how local economic development gets done?In our latest 10-minute LED Confidential podcast episode, David Marlow and I look at what the “Green wave” could mean for LED and placemaking?

In our latest LED Confidential episode David Marlow and I look at how grid connections and competing demands on energy are fast becoming binding constraints on local economic development and placemaking in the UK. How are things shaping up where you are?

Is energy still just a context for your local economic strategy – or has it become the organising principle? In our latest 10‑minute LED Confidential episode David Marlow and I look at how grid connections are fast becoming a binding constraint on local growth, regeneration and net zero delivery.

In our latest episode of LED Confidential, David Marlow and I talk to Liz McAreavey, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, about Edinburgh 2030 – a business‑led call to action for one of the UK’s most successful city economies. 👇

What happens when business decides it can’t wait for someone else to lead an area's economic strategy? LED Confidential podcast talks to Liz McAreavey, CEO of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, about Edinburgh 2030 – a business‑led vision for the one of the UK’s most successful city economies.

In our latest podcast episode of LED Confidential David Marlow and I unpack England's new Local Growth Fund: a £900m, four‑year capital programme reserved for the North and Midlands. A return to genuine regional economic policy – or just a less generous version of UKSPF? Tune in to hear more!

England now has a new Local Growth Fund: a £900m, four‑year capital programme reserved for 11 Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the North and Midlands. But the average annual funding of £225m is around 60% lower than England’s last‑year UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation...

In our latest LED Confidential episode David Marlow and I unpack the Pride in Place fund and its recent extension. Will this be transformational for neighbourhoods or a tactical top‑up? We explore 👇

In our latest LED Confidential podcast episode David Marlow and I discuss the extension of the Pride in Place fund for neighbourhood renewal in the UK. Over 40 neighbourhoods getting £20m over 10 years to invest in high streets, youth centres, community spaces and local events.

In our latest LED Confidential podcast episode David Marlow and I explore the wave of major announcements to hit English local government since the start of the year and what it all means for local economic development and placemaking 👇

Since the start of 2026, local authorities across England have been hit by a wave of major announcements. In our latest LED Confidential podcast episode, David Marlow and I explore what this 'perfect storm' means for those working in and on local economic development and placemaking.

David Marlow and I are joined on LEDC by Peter Hetherington – former Northern and Regional Affairs Editor at The Guardian, past Chair and Vice President of the Town and Country Planning Association. Tune in to hear Peter make the case that 👇

David Marlow and I are joined by Peter Hetherington on LEDC who shares his vision for a national policy for the economic renewal of England's regions - from a re‑tooled Treasury and new Department for English Regions and Communities, to an English development agency and territorial expenditure board

The Hallett Inquiry into the UK's response to COVID-19 is producing findings with direct implications for the development of local economies and communities. In our latest LED Confidential podcast episode David Marlow and I cover some of the key points raised by the inquiry 👇

Six years after the initial COVID-19 pandemic declaration, the UK's Hallett Inquiry is producing findings with direct implications for local economic development and placemaking. In our latest LED Confidential podcast episode David Marlow and I pick these up and cover 👇

The public consultation on England's proposed Visitor Levy closes on 18 February. But what are the key issues? David Marlow and I unpack them in our latest LED Confidential podcast episode. 👇

The public consultation on England’s proposed Visitor Levy comes with 36 questions across 72 pages. This new fiscal tool raises complex issues related to local governance, tourism, wellbeing and economic growth. In our latest LED Confidential podcast episode, David Marlow and I explore 👇

In our latest LED Confidential podcast David Marlow and I ask: what do recent US–Europe tensions over Greenland and the wider breakdown in US-RoW relations mean for the economic development of countries such as the UK? We explore how how geopolitics now reaches directly into local economies...

Recent US–Europe tensions over Greenland and the wider breakdown in US-RoW relations might look like a distant foreign policy drama – but as David Marlow and I argue in our latest LED Confidential podcast, they say a lot about how geopolitics now reaches directly into local economies.

What does it take to turn a 50km stretch of Scotland’s Firth of Forth into a hub for sustainable growth? CEO Sarah Murray gives LED Confidential podcast the inside track on Forth Green Freeport.

Can Scotland’s Green Freeports deliver inclusive growth and a just transition? David Marlow and I talk to Sarah Murray, CEO of Forth Green Freeport, about one of the UK’s most ambitious economic and environmental programmes. Now on all good podcast platforms, or via the LED Confidential website!

What will define local economic development for the UK in 2026? At the #LEDConfidential podcast David Marlow and I have made our predictions... 🎧 Listen now: www.ledconfidential.co.uk/episodes/epi...

What will define local economic development for the UK in 2026? In our latest #LEDConfidential episode, David Marlow and I share our predictions... 🎧 Listen now: www.ledconfidential.co.uk/episodes/epi...

In our last #LEDConfidential episode of the year, David Marlow and I reflect on the key moments of 2025 and what they signal for the year to come. 🎧 Listen now: www.ledconfidential.co.uk/episodes/epi...#LEDConfidential 💬 What were your biggest moments for the sector this year?

What defined local economic development in 2025? In our last #LEDConfidential episode of the year, David Marlow and I reflect on the key moments of 2025 and what they signal for the year to come. 🎧 Listen now: www.ledconfidential.co.uk/episodes/epi...#LEDConfidential💬 What were your biggest moments for the sector

🚨 #LEDConfidential Blog: Innovation Districts 2.0🚨 Check out David Marlow's big takeaways from our recent episode with Dr Michael Glass on promoting inclusive innovation in places 👇

Our latest #LEDConfidential podcast episode looks at the 'ID 2.0' model of innovation districts (IDs) and how cities like Newcastle upon Tyne, Pittsburgh, Medellin, and Belfast are embedding inclusion as an operating principle into their IDs 👇 🎧 Listen now: www.ledconfidential.co.uk/episodes/epi...

David Marlow and I chat with Dr. Michael Glass of the University of Pittsburgh about 'ID 2.0', a model for embedding inclusion into the DNA of innovation districts. We explore case studies from across the world 👇 🎧 Listen now: www.ledconfidential.co.uk/episodes/epi...

🚨 New #LEDConfidential Blog: Autumn Budget 2025 – Pushing the Fiscal Frontiers 🚨 Check out David Marlow's analysis of the five big issues, delivery challenges, and opportunities ahead for local economic development in the UK following Budget 2025 👇