In January 2016, Exeter City Council, in partnership with local private sector company Global City Futures, launched Exeter City Futures (ECF), a Community Interest Company, to help Exeter solve its urbanisation challenges whilst reducing social inequality and contributing to economic growth. The role of ECF is to bring together public and private sector partners together with communities to harness individual effort, create shared responsibility for delivering a better Exeter and bring coordination and focus to the big transport and energy challenges we face. The ambition for the city has to date inspired 80 local businesses across the city to partner to support transformation in Exeter and the work with local accelerator programme Exeter Velocities has supported 24 startups to build and test new products and services that address our goals.

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An arcade, supported by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and based prominently on Stockton High Street provides the ideal place for young businesses to test their trade while being able to access business support, marketing and financial advice. Since it opened in 2011 around 88 tenants have been based in the beautifully restored 140-year-old building selling a wide range of high quality and unusual goods. Many of these fledgling businesses go on to expand and take up their own retail space in the town centre.