Good Jobs, Better Health, Fairer Futures

Leeds City Council

About the project

Despite sustained growth and relatively high employment levels in Leeds, poverty and deprivation remain significant challenges in the city. Inequalities are significant and persistent, and the city has a life expectancy gap of 12.1 years for women and 11.7 years for men between the least and most affluent areas.

Leeds has begun the process of meaningful change through the Leeds Anchors Network, a consortium of organisations that share a commitment to using their place-based economic, human and intellectual power to better the long-term welfare of their local communities. 

This project aimed to support Leeds Anchor organisations to address health and economic inequalities, primarily by making employment opportunities more accessible and strengthening connections between Anchors and community organisations. It also aimed to strengthen working relationships between the economic development and public health functions in Leeds City Council.

Key achievements

Business Anchors Network

A key element of the project was to explore how private sector partners could be engaged in the city’s Anchor partnerships, to benefit the most disadvantaged communities, through the creation of a Business Anchors Network. 

A Business Anchor Progression Framework has been developed and the project team supported nine businesses, including Arup, Balfour Beatty and Leeds Building Society, to complete the framework and become part of the network. 

Initiatives instigated through the network include a joint work experience opportunity for care-experienced young people. 

Interviews with Business Anchor members found that they value being part of the network, specifically learning from each other, being more closely linked to city agendas, and the opportunity to increase their local impact, particularly for the most disadvantaged communities in Leeds.

Business Anchor members have shared examples of their local social impact activity and invited each other to get involved in events that they, or their community partners, have organised. They have reported that completing the Progression Framework has prompted new reflections about areas where they can make a difference locally. 

Learning from the development of the Business Anchors Network has been documented in a Business Anchor Playbook, and there are case studies of network members.

Community listening exercise

The project team worked with a new city partnership, Leeds Community Anchor Network (LCAN), to look at what could be delivered together to support the project’s objective of listening to community priorities and building connections. The project supported the development and piloting of a community listening exercise, delivered by LCAN.

The topic of the listening exercise was access to good work and skills development, and three Community Anchor organisations delivered the engagement with their local areas. It involved an asset-based ‘listening exercise’ to identify solutions to barriers faced when looking for meaningful employment, and delivering recommendations to Anchor organisations around inclusive recruitment practices. This led to new community pre-employment provision being established, which responded to the priorities of local people.

Development of the Leeds Anchor Network

The project has worked to further develop the Leeds Anchors Network and increase the role of Anchor members in contributing to initiatives that will address health and economic inequalities. The network has grown to 14 members with representation across public services: health, education, culture and utilities. A partnership agreement has formalised the commitment of Anchors to the network, and a subscription model has been introduced to secure the future of the network for three years from 2025. 

The project team has facilitated conversations at executive level of the Anchors Network about the role of Anchor organisations in influencing health and health equity.

A playbook has been developed to share learning from the Leeds Anchors Network with other areas. 

Key reflections and learnings

Members of the Business Anchors Network generally represent the most engaged private sector partners in Leeds, as Amy Beswick, project lead, explained: “This was a deliberate choice, to recruit and develop businesses to act as early adopters and ambassadors for the approach. The next step is to consider how this model can be used to influence more organisations to adopt Anchor principles and change their practice.”

Delivering joint interventions is challenging and resource-intensive. Getting to the point of developing a shared initiative took time (around one year of meetings) However, the network has established strong relationships and the foundations for collaborative working going forward.

Many Anchor organisations have implemented recruitment freezes due to the economic and public sector funding environment, making it more challenging to identify opportunities for similar place-based recruitment initiatives with non-health Anchors.

Sustainability plans

Leeds City Council will continue to support the Business Anchors Network, while ensuring it is led by its members. The businesses reviewed their Progression Framework submissions in late 2025, which will allow the network to identify new areas of joint priority.

Building on the legacy of closer relationships between Anchors and the third sector, through the relationship with LCAN and the listening exercise, these connections will be formalised and a shared view established as to how Anchors and the third sector will work together beyond the project.

The Leeds Anchors Network partnership agreement is now in place, securing commitment from the Anchors to self-fund the network and its activities for the next three years. The project team will transition into the programme team for the network.

Advice for others

The project has highlighted the added value of permanent, dedicated resourcing to support the Anchors Network, as Amy explained: “Prior to the project, responsibility for the network was distributed across several Council employees across departments, without a central coordinator. Having a single point of contact to hold relationships with Anchors and oversee programmes of work across the Anchor workstreams is an important function to develop the network and begin to realise its potential.” 

Contact information

For more information about this project, please contact Amy Beswick, Leeds Anchor Manager, Leeds City Council.