Fiscal devolution: An era of opportunity

City-REDI has prepared this brief to inform the debate on fiscal devolution. The UK has traditionally been a fiscally centralised system with most of the local authority income coming from government transfers. The acknowledgment of the importance of place and local leadership in policies such as the industrial strategy, devo deals and the budget, together … Continue reading “Fiscal devolution: An era of opportunity”

The end (of the project) is near

It is with both a sense of sadness and satisfaction that I write this blog. Sadness because the Urban Living Birmingham project has now formally completed – although outputs and outcomes will continue to be produced into the New Year. Satisfaction because of all we achieved in such a short time. In only 18 months … Continue reading “The end (of the project) is near”

The Age of the ‘Olderpreneur’

‘Entrepreneur’ is usually a term people associate with the stereotypical twenty-something university graduate starting a business from their bedroom. However, in recent years it appears that the fastest-growing segment of entrepreneurs are people aged 50 and over, referred to as ‘seniorpreneurs’ or ‘olderpreneurs’. The number of businesses run by people aged over 55 has increased … Continue reading “The Age of the ‘Olderpreneur’”

City-REDI publications series: Professor John Bryson – Repatriation or Reshoring of Manufacturing to the U.S. and UK: Modular Theory-Building, Dynamics and Global Production Networks or From Here to There and Back Again

As part of a new blog series, we will be highlighting the excellent research produced by the City-REDI team since 2015, with the aim of creating an online searchable library. You can view this work by searching the blog with the relevant tag, either using the name of the author or the year of the publication. The … Continue reading “City-REDI publications series: Professor John Bryson – Repatriation or Reshoring of Manufacturing to the U.S. and UK: Modular Theory-Building, Dynamics and Global Production Networks or From Here to There and Back Again”

The Birmingham Economic Review 2017 – Inward & Foreign Direct Investment

The Birmingham Economic Review was produced in October 2017 by City-REDI, the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and the West Midlands Growth Company. The review highlights the current strengths and weakness of the Birmingham economy, as well as looking at the opportunities and threats that might impact upon it in the future. This is a commentary on Chapter 11 of … Continue reading “The Birmingham Economic Review 2017 – Inward & Foreign Direct Investment”

Are business schools fit for the future?

The growth of business education over the past 60 years has been phenomenal, with more than 16,000 business schools operating worldwide, according to an AACSB estimate. Yet a growing range of challenges will mean that in 25 years’ time, many of our business schools will not exist, and none will exist in their current form. … Continue reading “Are business schools fit for the future?”

Measuring the qualifications gap: regional analysis and local labour markets

The latest City-REDI Policy Briefing, ‘Measuring the skills gap: A regional analysis of a local labour market’ is a focused analysis of the NVQ (national vocational qualification) qualification ladder levels 1 through 4, in specific geographic regions of the UK. It examines the types of qualifications that employers find missing from candidates applying for jobs, … Continue reading “Measuring the qualifications gap: regional analysis and local labour markets”

The Birmingham Economic Review 2017 – The Visitor Economy

The Birmingham Economic Review was produced in October 2017 by City-REDI, the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and the West Midlands Growth Company. The review highlights the current strengths and weakness of the Birmingham economy, as well as looking at the opportunities and threats that might impact upon it in the future. This is a commentary on Chapter 10 of … Continue reading “The Birmingham Economic Review 2017 – The Visitor Economy”

Clusters, and the research opportunity of Big Data – finding better ways to assess a specialised economy

Last year, NIESR, SpazioDati and City REDI were commissioned by the then Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to generate new evidence on UK industrial clusters and to test the potentials and limitations of Big Data techniques applied to the study of the topic. Reflecting back on this work its findings are especially relevant when … Continue reading “Clusters, and the research opportunity of Big Data – finding better ways to assess a specialised economy”

An Industrial Strategy Fit for Regional Growth

The UK is facing a number of critical challenges at the present time with Brexit at the top of most agendas. But most fundamental of these challenges are the result of significant regional differences in productivity, economic growth and social well-being across the country. These uneven patterns of inequality and socio-economic opportunity were a key … Continue reading “An Industrial Strategy Fit for Regional Growth”