Mr Neil McInroy

Neil McInroy is Chief Executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES).

CLES, founded in 1986, is an independent charitable organisation whose work is funded by a network of agencies. CLES is concerned with regeneration, employment, economic and community development as well as European issues. CLES combines a policy regeneration side alongside a doing consultancy trading arm. In all of CLES’ work, the issue of economic development married to progressive environmental and social benefit is a common theme.

Neil has been Chief Executive since 2003 and has been involved in a range of economic development research and regeneration strategy work. He has also been an expert as part of the OECD LEED programme, in its research into the Czech Republic and developed a Future City Game with the British Council, which has taken him to Colombia; Latvia; Poland; Norway and Russia where the game has assisted policy thinking and the strategic development of these locations.

He is at present involved in a range of research projects and activities across the UK, and beyond, including work on the use of local public spend, new local economic strategies, employment and making local economies strong and resilient to economic shocks and environmental threats. Neil was recently awarded a Global fellowship offered by the Norfolk Charitable Trust looking into models of local economic development and the role of Local Government. This has seen him travel to 6 locations including Gdansk- Poland, Portland- USA, Sinaloa- Mexico, Coimbatore- India, Haiphong- Vietnam and Yokkaichi- Japan.

Neil is regularly asked to speak and lecture within the UK and internationally. He is also a visiting Lecturer at the Centre for Urban Policy Studies at the University of Manchester, on the steering group of two Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) research projects, on the board of two third sector organisations and is Vice Chair of his local primary school. He is married with three children and lives in Old Trafford, Manchester.