LED Confidential: the local economic development podcast

LED Confidential (LEDC) is a UK-based podcast about local economic development and placemaking, hosted by David Marlow (Third Life Economics) and Mike Spicer (PolicyDepartment). It lifts the lid on the intractable issues facing places and the people working to improve them.

Our weekly Espresso Shot episodes unpack the latest local growth news in around ten minutes, and each month we’re joined by leading practitioners, policymakers and academics from the UK and beyond. If you need to keep on top of the UK local growth scene, or want straight answers to the questions facing economic development and placemaking professionals, LEDC is the podcast for you.

Latest episode

LED Confidential podcast episode cover with images of co-hosts Mike Spicer and David Marlow for the episode titled Mayoral Development Corporations: the delivery vehicle that sticks or the latest new toy?

Mayoral Development Corporations: the delivery vehicle that sticks or the latest new toy?

5 November 2026

11 minutes

Mike and David ask whether Mayoral Development Corporations are the delivery vehicle devolution has been missing, or the latest new toy in the toolbox.

Go to episode page

More recent episodes

LED Confidential Espresso Shot cover with hosts David Marlow and Mike Spicer: Heathrow's Infrastructure Skills Council

Heathrow’s Infrastructure Skills Council: future of labour market policy, or a very Heathrow answer to a very Heathrow problem?

29 October 2026

13 mins

Mike and David ask if Heathrow's Infrastructure Skills Council is a model for linking major infrastructure to local labour market outcomes, or a one-off

Go to episode

LED Confidential Espresso Shot cover with hosts David Marlow and Mike Spicer: local government reform in England and Scotland

Local government reform: England pauses, Scotland redraws

15 October 2026

12 mins

Mike and David on England's pause on local government reorganisation, Scotland's redraw, and whether either government can say what reform is actually for.

Go to episode

LED Confidential podcast episode cover with images of guests William Hamilton, Megan Smith, and Luke Green (from left to right) for episode "Three pathways, one sector: early career economists in economic development"

Three pathways, one sector: early career economists in economic development

22 October 2026

45 mins

Three early career economists on how they found economic development, the support that mattered, and what AI means for the next generation of economists.

Go to episode

Follow LED Confidential on your favourite podcast platform