Skills matter in place-based green industrial policy: Lessons from the closure of MG Rover, 2000-2005

In this LPIP Hub report, Ed Atkins explores how the experience of workers in the wake of the closure of MG Rover in Longbridge, Birmingham has lessons for green industrial policy today. He shows how proactive, place-based and skills-centred interventions helped limit the regional economic impacts of closure but also highlighted unequal economic outcomes for workers. Ultimately, he argues that future place-based green industrial policy must seek to both diversify regional economies and ensure robust, long-term skills pipelines to ensure workers aren’t left behind as high-emissions industries decline and others emerge.

The case of MG Rover shows that skills programmes must be directly tied to long-term industrial demand, not standalone training programmes. Structured pathways can give workers a clear route into new green sectors, supporting their retraining and allowing them to access secure work.

This research is for the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub which seeks to address nationwide issues through local partnerships and place.

By working with local LPIPs, the Hub aims to understand and solve local challenges around the UK through an innovative and effective service-driven approach to place-based policy-making and public service delivery. The LPIP Hub is designed to lead to a step-change in the quality and impact of the evidence created by universities and their local place partners.

The Hub has £3.6 million from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and Innovate UK. It is a national consortium, led by the University of Birmingham, convening stakeholders across the research and policy ecosystem.