Matthew Brown, Leader of Preston City Council and Senior Fellow for the Promotion of Community Wealth Building with The Democracy Collaborative, is widely credited as the driving force behind the ‘Preston model’, an economic strategy at the city and county level that presents a comprehensive, interlinked approach to community wealth building as a practical and transformative alternative to austerity and disinvestment. In this session, Brown will give a short talk on the Preston Model followed by an opportunity for our panellists to share how the model relates to their work, featuring Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, Mayor of Newham; Karen Hirst, Director, Maple Grove Developments and Antonia Jennings, Associate Director, Centre for Local Economic Strategies.