Organisation Membership: North Yorkshire Council

North Yorkshire Council is using its Organisation Membership of the Institute of Economic Development (iED) to support professional development, strengthen connections with economic development practitioners and access the policy and sector intelligence needed to respond to a rapidly changing landscape.

The council was formed in 2023 when six district councils and North Yorkshire County Council came together as a single unitary local authority. Its relationship with the iED, however, predates local government reorganisation.

Principal Regeneration Officer Marcin Szczech previously worked at Selby District Council, which became an iED Organisation Member in 2022, with membership subsequently expanding across the new North Yorkshire Council.

“One of the main drivers for joining IED was professional development and the training opportunities that the Institute offers – and also learning from other examples of how organisations deliver the kind of service that we delivered,” Marcin explained. “It was good value for money back then, and I still believe it’s good value for money. You can have organisational membership, which, when you consider how many people we have as members, is extremely good value for money.”

Those benefits have remained important as the council has evolved, with around 40 colleagues now registered as iED members. Sue White, Economic Development Manager, sees an important role for the Institute in providing professional recognition within a sector where traditional qualification routes are less established.

“I became a member of the iED many years ago when I was with Darlington Borough Council because it actually recognised your background and your experience in working within a sector that didn’t necessarily have formal qualifications that you were able to go and do in terms of university or elsewhere,” she commented. “It actually built up some kind of recognition that you work at a particular standard or that you have that kind of relevant experience.

“We have used our membership within economic development to undertake some of the training that is available. Myself and a number of colleagues have undertaken the Advanced Certificate in Economic Development. We’ve put senior economic development officers who work within the inward investment sphere through the Certificate in Economic Development, and they all now want to go on and do the Advanced Certificate. I’ve also got a team of six senior business advisers, and they’re looking at which courses they can undertake as well.

“For economic development, there’s very little else that’s actually out there in terms of developing the skill set of people within the team, and it is really important to invest in their CPD through the iED. From my perspective, it’s been really positive. In terms of how the learning is structured through the online programmes, I think that can work quite well, and the instructors have been incredibly knowledgeable.”

From a regeneration perspective, another significant membership benefit is access to policy and sector intelligence.

“Policy is changing constantly,” Marcin reflected. “We live in a world where new policies are being announced every day recently, and some of them are affecting us in economic development and regeneration as well. So keeping abreast of changing economic development policy and regeneration policy is actually a great benefit. Having those monthly updates from the iED, knowing where we are, that really is great.”

For Marcin, there is also significant value in learning from other iED members – particularly those working in rural areas, smaller towns and places facing similar challenges to North Yorkshire.

“The context in which we operate across North Yorkshire is highly diverse,” he said. “We cover a variety of towns ranging from Harrogate, our largest town with a population of approximately 80,000, to much smaller communities of 2,000 to 3,000 residents. While their scale differs significantly, these smaller towns remain vitally important to both our residents and elected members.

“Having case studies from those smaller places and seeing how policy would affect those smaller places as well, I think, is very important. Seeing that through the eyes of other members, and how they implement certain ideas on the ground, can help us. It’s important to show through case studies that things work somewhere else, so we can try that in our context as well.”

North Yorkshire Council colleagues have already engaged with wider iED activities. Staff have participated in the recently relaunched North East and Yorkshire online regional network, while the council has previously contributed thought leadership articles to the Institute. There is also potential for the council to share further learning from its own regeneration activity, including work across its coastal communities and in Scarborough.

Reflecting on the council’s experience overall, Marcin concluded: “Organisation Membership is a very positive experience. The main two reasons we joined were professional development and training opportunities, and connecting to other professionals in the sector and seeing how they deliver the service. Training opportunities and access to policy and sector intelligence are great. It’s all very good value for money, especially from a public sector perspective.”

Case study developed: September 2026