Evaluating the Economic Impact of the Preston Model (Community Wealth Building)

Lancashire Institute for Economic and Business Research (LIEBR)

This programme of research evaluates the economic impact that community wealth building initiatives (a.k.a. ‘The Preston Model’) have had upon the Lancashire economy and community.

The ‘Preston Model’ of community wealth building is an attempt to blend coordinated local procurement, the steering of investment, development of new cooperative enterprises and the strengthening of local supply chains, to generate growth and good jobs in the local economy.

The programme of work, undertaken by the research team, seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach in terms of its socio-economic impact upon the local economy and community.

Research Team

Impact

Work undertaken by the research team helped to inform the early development of the ideas which ultimately coalesced into what became known as the ‘Preston Model’. Preliminary discussions were chaired by Whyman, whereas a mapping study, undertaken by Froggett and Manley into cooperatives within Lancashire, informed that element of the strategy. Manley was a founding member of the Preston Cooperative Development Network. Both Whyman and Manley have provided local and national policy advice relating to different aspects of community wealth building.

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    A delegation from Mondragon, Spain, was invited by the University of Central Lancashire to visit the campus and the city of Preston for four days in early November 2021.

    Monday 15 November 2021
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Further information

Please contact a member of the research team for further information.

pbwhyman
Professor Philip B Whyman
Professor of Economics
School of Business

Philip B Whyman is Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the UCLan Research Centre for Business, Management and Enterprise (URCBME). In this role, Philip leads the research activity of the university in the field of economics and political economy. He teaches aspects of econo…

jymanley
Dr Julian Manley
Professor of Social Innovation
School of Health, Social Work and Sport

Julian’s research is focussed on the study of human relations and social innovation from a psychosocial perspective. This work is focussed on the social and affective aspects of Community Wealth Building (CWB) and the version of CWB known as the Preston Model. His research has de…