Stratis Koutsoukos

The Yorkshire and Humber region covers 15, 413 sq km and has a population of around 5 million people. It contains some of England’s most scenic landscapes, including the North York Moors National Park and parts of the Yorkshire Dales and Peak District National Parks. Tourism is important economically for the region, particularly the rural areas. It is estimated that tourism is now worth £6.3 billion to the regional economy (Yorkshire Forward 2008). Tourism supports almost 245, 000 jobs, around 11 per cent of the total workforce, in over 23, 000 businesses, mostly small. Most of the tourism is domestic, from within the UK, although there are 1.2 million overseas visitors annually. The region accounts for 10 per cent of England’s domestic tourist trips and 9 per cent of total spend (Yorkshire Tourist Board 2008).

Country-level indicators can obscure strategically valuable subnational locations. This article defines a micro-location by strategic distinctiveness rather than by physical or economic scale. Integrating international business knowledge on subnational location choice with place branding competences, we propose four archetypes: “Extractive and Energy Clusters”, “Strategic Special Economic Zones”, “Urban Innovation and Fintech Hubs”, and “Blue Oceans and Unknown Places”. This decision-support framework helps executives match investment purposes with appropriate locations, assess enabling conditions and trade-offs, and design place-based implementation approaches – by identifying opportunities beyond global cities. This practical tool helps policymakers identify the institutional, infrastructural, and human-capital interventions to make overlooked locations more investment-ready.

The authors were the principals in the evaluation of the Prince's Trust's Young People's Business Start-up Programme, 1994-1999, as it operated nationally in the UK and in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. In this paper they report the methodologies used in the evaluation and the key findings. They then use their reflections on both the research process and its outcomes to comment on small business policy.

Purpose Informed by the dearth of research and insufficient knowledge of green innovation in family firms, this study explores the intersection of green innovation, family firms and intergenerational succession in resolving the paradox of green innovation across generations. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory qualitative study explored the perceptions of incumbents and successors of textile family firms in Italy to highlight the crucial role of firms’ entrepreneurial orientation and social-emotional wealth in shaping and fostering green innovation in family firms. Findings The results show that a low bureaucratic process, flexibility and communication strengthen green innovation in family firms. However, the lack of sustainable raw materials, consumer behaviour, insufficient financial capital, stakeholder engagement and risk aversion affects green innovation in family firms. While family firms are willing to engage in green innovation, the results suggest that family firms are more likely to consider green innovation with superior financial benefits rather than environmental benefits alone. According to the results, incumbents and successors differ in harnessing knowledge to increase their entrepreneurial orientation and protect firms’ social-emotional wealth. Originality/value Despite many barriers preventing green innovation in small family firms, this study shows that the interaction of internal capabilities, external knowledge and family (entrepreneurial) orientation contributes to green innovation and the overall performance of small family firms.

This paper seeks to examine some of the lessons from the past: in particular the 1994-1999 programming period of the EU Structural Funds. It then proposes to examine the current UK implementation of the Structural Fund programmes for 2000-2006 and raise some issues which currently emerge in terms of the UK government's new policy agenda affecting economic development. Thereafter the paper develops this analysis in order to raise some early issues in preparing for post-2006, which need to be considered in the post-devolution era in the UK.

The context for this study is the Bristol Accord that was agreed at the European Ministerial Informal meeting in Bristol, United Kingdom, on 6th-7th December 2005. The report reviews progress across Europe, identifies a selection of case studies and suggests further work is required to elaborate the European dimension of the Sustainable Communities Agenda. This agenda is being considered in the European Parliament, by the German Presidency of the European Union at the Leipzig Summit in 2007 and in the European Commission, who are finalising the 2007-2013 Structural Funds programme. A stronger focus is required for a more coherent European programme of action if the Sustainable Communities approach is to have better chance of success across Europe’s towns and cities.

The context for this study is the Bristol Accord that was agreed at the European Ministerial Informal (EU) meeting in Bristol, United Kingdom, on 6th-7th December 2005. The report reviews progress across Europe, identifies a selection of case studies and suggests further work is required to elaborate the European dimension of the Sustainable Communities Agenda. This agenda is being considered in the European Parliament, by the EU German Presidency at the Leipzig Summit in 2007 and in the European Commission, who are finalising the 2007-2013 Structural Funds programme. A better focus is required for a more coherent European programme of action if the Sustainable Communities approach is to have better chance of success across Europe’s towns and cities.