North Ayrshire is the first Community Wealth Building council in Scotland.
Community Wealth Building is an approach to economic development that means more local employment and a larger and more diverse business base, ensuring that wealth is locally owned and benefits local people.
It means working in partnership with businesses, organisations, and communities, to build a strong local economy that supports fair work, and is about
- the goods that we buy
- the people that we employ
- the assets we own
- the powers we have that can bring about change to maximise local economic opportunities
Community Wealth Building has five pillars focused on making sure that wealth is locally owned and benefits local communities: Procurement; Fair Employment; Land and Assets; Financial Power; and Plural Ownership.
Promoting strong local relationships to enable local retention of wealth and increased local spend is a key feature Community Wealth Building. In addition, a positive lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the negative impact seen by international supply chains. The opportunity exists to build local supply chains, which will create more local economic opportunities and innovation, as well as reducing environmental impact.
We will support our business base on progressive business models, workplace innovation and fair work, and upskill our advisers to enhance our understanding of the social economy.
We will ensure our commercial property portfolio supports the growth of the local businesses base and entrepreneurial activity. We will explore how our assets can support our wider Community Wealth Building, including green and digital, aims.
Fair Work is work that offers balances the rights and responsibilities of employers and workers; and can generate benefits for individuals, organisations and society. We will provide support to help businesses embed a Fair Work approach, including mapping a strategy to allow for the payment of the Real Living Wage, developing flexible working practices, offering staff development and creating mechanisms where the staff voice can be heard.
You can read more find the strategy on the North Ayrshire Council website.
North Ayrshire Council Local Business Database
This is a short questionnaire that allows businesses to provide details on their services but also highlights training needs and where a business requires support. The database is available to all services within North Ayrshire Council and employees are encouraged to review the database before they make any purchasing decisions. Supporting Community Wealth Building, this is a way for local businesses (they must be registered within North Ayrshire) to promote their services across the Council and receive follow-up support from both our Business and Procurement Teams.
Please use this form to provide the key information about your local business.
Community Benefits Wishlist
Community benefits are built into the Council’s procurement processes. They are designed to bring added value to communities when the Council tenders for a service. Third Sector groups, such as community organisations, associations, charities, and social enterprises, use the portal to register their own set of community benefit ‘wishes’. The wishes are then granted by Council contractors who can donate their time, products or expertise.
You can find out more on the North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership website.