Future Economies Research Centre

We aim to identify the big policy challenges facing 21st century communities - across Greater Manchester, the United Kingdom and beyond.

Our world-leading research helps businesses, policymakers and civil society decide how to respond to issues including:

• Brexit and trade governance

• the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath

• the UK government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda for regional economies

• devolution and local economic strategies

• mega-sporting events

And because we work closely with businesses, public bodies and the voluntary sector, we learn from how our academic insights are applied in practice to strengthen future research and teaching. 

Our staff are drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds with a mix of life-long academics and practitioners. They have decades of direct experience in business, local government, the civil service and think-tanks, and bring significant theoretical and practical expertise to diverse policy areas.

That expertise in economics and political economy gives us a unique perspective on the real-world problems facing our communities. And it’s that perspective that makes our research and teaching so distinctive.

We provide opportunities to study with us at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, including an intern scheme that enables students to work on live research projects.

And we invite people from academia, business and public policy to work with us as research fellows, supporting their professional development in a practically-focused academic setting.