Last week, Ford announced the closure of its Bridgend engine plant with the loss of 1,700 jobs. For some, this was a surprise. Perhaps, the only surprise is that policy-makers and politicians have not been working to overcome the impacts of this closure for the last 12 months. This closure was predictable and it is … Continue reading “The End of the British Automotive Industry as We Know It: The Closure of the Ford Bridgend Factory and the Shift Towards the Electric Revolution”
Category: Business
Resilience, Politics and Awards: Reflections from Regional Studies Association’s Conference in Santiago de Compostela
Tasos Kitsos reflects on this year’s Regional Studies Association’s annual conference in Santiago de Compostela. Every RSA conference is a great opportunity to meet old friends, make new, discuss research and engage in new collaborations. This one was particularly excting since it was the first time I was involved in organising a special session. Together … Continue reading “Resilience, Politics and Awards: Reflections from Regional Studies Association’s Conference in Santiago de Compostela”
The Realities, Challenges and Strengths of the External Funding Environment at LEP Level
When I joined City-REDI in October, I was seconded 50% of my time to the Smart Specialisation Hub in Islington for six months. The Hub provided analysis to improve local and national understanding of innovation capabilities, benchmarking innovation activity across Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). Established in 2010 by the then Department for Business, Innovation and … Continue reading “The Realities, Challenges and Strengths of the External Funding Environment at LEP Level”
What is Gross Value Added (GVA)?
Welcome to part one in our new series “What is…?” where we explain the language, terms and ideas used in our day-to-day work. Other blogs from the series include: What is Transport Resilience? What is Smart Specialisation? What are Industrial Clusters and Economies of Agglomeration? Definition and Description Gross value added (GVA) measures the contribution … Continue reading “What is Gross Value Added (GVA)?”
Brexit and the UK’s Regional and Urban Challenges
Brexit poses four direct challenges that relate to sub-national, regional and urban issues. First, it leads to an economic challenge in that the UK’s interregional inequalities are likely to become even greater than they currently are. Second, and consequent upon the first, is that Brexit also leads to a political challenge in that the expectations of voters … Continue reading “Brexit and the UK’s Regional and Urban Challenges”
Meet Professor Stephan Weiler, Fulbright Distinguished Research Chair at the University of Birmingham – Part Three
Professor Stephan Weiler is currently visiting City-REDI as a Fulbright Distinguished Research Chair. The Fulbright Distinguished Chair Awards are viewed as the most prestigious appointments in the Fulbright Scholar Program, a global exchange program now in existence for over seventy years. In a series of blogs, Stephan will introduce himself and outline how this partnership … Continue reading “Meet Professor Stephan Weiler, Fulbright Distinguished Research Chair at the University of Birmingham – Part Three”
Economic Resilience: The Multi-Dimensional Role of Skills
City-REDI has prepared this brief to inform the debate on economic resilience. It draws on resilience research at the Institute and elsewhere and is prepared under funding provided by the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/S011226/1). It first discusses the concept of resilience in political and policy discourse at the national level and then considers … Continue reading “Economic Resilience: The Multi-Dimensional Role of Skills”
Spacetime and Singapore: Towards a Four-Dimensional Understanding of City-Region Economies
I am based in Singapore this week and this provides an opportunity to consider Singapore as an extraordinary place. There are many aspects to Singapore as an extraordinary place. It is possible to argue that all places are extraordinary or special in some way. Context matters or perhaps more correctly ‘geography matters’. It is important … Continue reading “Spacetime and Singapore: Towards a Four-Dimensional Understanding of City-Region Economies”
New focus on the foundations of the UK’s economy might help poorest regions post-Brexit
Among all the uncertainty Brexit is causing, concerns have arisen over the potential fuel it is adding to the pertinent problem of inequality. There is mounting evidence that post-Brexit, the economic and social disparities between the stronger and weaker UK regions will widen. Looking at a number of potential scenarios, estimates suggest that the poorest … Continue reading “New focus on the foundations of the UK’s economy might help poorest regions post-Brexit”
Brexit Employment Risks by Occupation
Brexit will cause impediments to exports from the UK to the EU. These will affect UK sectors to different extents. Some sectors sell large shares of their output to EU markets, while others do not. These differences have an impact on the degree to which specific occupational types of employment are exposed to trade risks … Continue reading “Brexit Employment Risks by Occupation”