This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities shows that London's suburban high streets are performing better than the rest of the country. Most of London’s suburbs outperform Brighton, Oxford and York city centres – three of the UK’s top five cities and towns for high street occupancy. High average incomes are the main...

This report from UK think tank NCUB looks at the evidence on collaboration between universities and businesses. NCUB’s annual State of the Relationship report is an evidence tool to strengthen collaboration between universities and businesses. It offers important insights into the scale and nature of interactions between universities and businesses, identifying patterns and trends over...

This report from UK think tank City-REDI examines community empowerment and living heritage in 2026. Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill coming into action in the UK. The paper provides an initial provocation as to whether 2026 could provide the strongest mandate yet for valuing community culture and...

This report from UK think tank City-REDI argues that social value must be reclaimed as a driver of system change. This policy brief argues that social value must be reclaimed as a driver of system change rather than reduced to compliance exercises. It outlines a stewardship approach across three dimensions – procurement, governance, and community...

This report from UK think tank Re:State reveals a procurement system which has become too focused on compliance with complex rules and bureaucracy. The Government spends £400 billion a year procuring goods and services, but regularly fails to secure value for the taxpayer from that spending. Public procurement is rife with projects which are late,...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities explores how transport integration could improve public transport and support economic growth.   Transport is the wiring that allows urban economies to function. But this wiring is faulty in big UK cities outside of London. This presents a problem for a national government wanting to deliver...

This report from UK think tank NCUB explores unlocking the UK’s business-led R&D potential. Britain’s business R&D engine is losing power. Between 2021 and 2023, private investment fell by 6.3% in real terms, which means around £3.4 billion less was spent on business-led research and development. It was the sharpest decline among major economies, while...

This report from UK think tank City-REDI examines the UK's rise in economic inactivity since 2020. This research & policy briefing outlines the main findings from a two-year project Levelling Up Labour Supply funded by the Economic & Social Research Council’s UK In a Changing Europe (Award Ref. ES/X005828/2). The main focus of the paper...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities discusses how the UK's large cities have performed over the last 20 years. This briefing dives into the latest subregional productivity data to understand the trends over the past 20 years and what it can tell us about local and national economic performance. It shows that...

This report from UK think tank Civitas aims to help the Government develop a clear policy for both its industrial and trade strategies. In this report, Phil Radford questions why the UK’s approach to trade has such little focus on our fastest growing exports and why debate is not better informed on the sectors and...

This report from UK think tank City-REDI explores the structural, institutional and policy factors shaping the UK’s innovation ecosystem. This project, funded by the Innovation and Research Caucus (IRC), addresses that gap by exploring the structural, institutional, and policy factors shaping the UK’s innovation ecosystem. Through interviews with impactful innovators and innovation support bodies, the...

This report from UK think tank City-REDI reflects on lessons learned on the role of institutions and governance in housing strategy. The UK Government has announced a £39 billion funding package and five-stage plan for social and affordable housing in England, with a comprehensive 10-year strategy due in 2025. This report reflects on the housing...

This report from UK think tank Civitas examines the focus on ESG’s impact on businesses, workers and consumers. Many businesses nowadays engage in what has been coined ‘ethical’, or ‘woke’, capitalism. While ethical capitalism has a long history, over recent decades it has largely fallen under the remit of ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ (ESG) –...

This report from UK think tank City-REDI looks at what the Government can learn from city-region mayors and devolved nations. This briefing sets out seven essential principles for effective place-based growth, drawing on the lived experience and emerging evidence from city-region mayors, devolved nations, the UKRI-funded Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub and the four funded...

This report from UK think tank the Work Foundation examines the potential impact of employment rights reform in the UK. Work insecurity has been a persistent feature of the UK labour market for over two decades. In 2023, our analysis found that over one in five UK workers (21.4%) – around 6.8 million people –...