Unlocking regional potential
Empowering communities, building futures
As a business that has local offices across the UK, we care about the communities in which we work. To support inclusive growth in these areas, we have been collaborating with local partners, employers, and communities to co-design solutions, creating accessible pathways to employment. From supporting steel communities in Wales and fostering green careers in the North West, to convening cross-sector dialogue in Liverpool and Leeds, we matched employer needs with individual support. Below, we highlight three examples of how this collaborative approach has been making a difference on the ground.
Neath Port Talbot’s pathway to inclusive recruitment
In June 2025, Deloitte and the Behavioural Insights Team began a year-long collaboration to support economic regeneration and tackle employment barriers in Neath Port Talbot (NPT). Our discovery phase involved reviewing data, engaging stakeholders, and conducting focus groups and interviews with residents. This helped us understand the local labour market, map support systems, and identify key economic growth drivers, enabling us to shape pilot solutions.
We identified that our greatest impact would be in convening local employers, connecting them with government initiatives, and promoting inclusive recruitment. We engaged 188 local employers to understand inclusive hiring barriers and opportunities. Additionally, we refurbished unused office space in Port Talbot into a business and community hub. This hub will host Deloitte-led workshops and events, supporting local business growth and fostering discussions on inclusive recruitment.
Our ambition is to continue convening South Wales leaders, offering a collaboration space and a programme of events. These will include leadership development, professional networking, and employee experience hackathons, helping local people develop skills and work readiness. This approach will encourage business leaders to recognise and harness the diverse talent within Port Talbot’s communities.
"Our collaboration with Deloitte is making a difference locally. Their employer insight helps us prepare people for work, while their office space and workshops create a welcoming place to build skills and confidence for those who are facing barriers to work.”
Ceri Evans, NPT Trailblazer, Neath Port Talbot
A green light for inclusive careers
The UK's journey to net-zero is creating thousands of new jobs. But who gets these roles? For many, especially in disadvantaged communities, the path to these green careers feels blocked. Unemployment remains a challenge. This is where the Net Zero Careers programme in North West England steps in.
In partnership with GoodPeople, an organisation dedicated to inclusive employment, Deloitte invested in a programme to fund 50 jobs, leveraging its extensive networks and convening power to secure the programme’s success. The GoodPeople programme created tailored solutions to reach disadvantaged groups. This approach, built on active collaboration, with partners including Greater Manchester Combined Authority's procurement team, brought together local businesses, government and communities.
By focusing on connecting individuals to real job opportunities, the programme helped ensure opportunities were accessible to local people who may otherwise face barriers to employment.
A good example is our work with Green Grant Installs in Manchester, where we helped connect the business with a wider pool of candidates through local referral partners and community networks, enabling them to fill 22 positions across 14 vital roles, from insulation installers to solar electricians. This opened doors for local people into meaningful green careers.
From making the most of local talent to building thriving regions
In Liverpool City Region (LCR) and West Yorkshire, we convened cross-sector ‘Pathways to People’ workshops to address persistent economic inactivity. These regions, both designated Trailblazer areas – regions chosen by the Government to pilot new, integrated approaches – faced significant challenges, with LCR having 245,500 economically inactive people and West Yorkshire over 375,000. These workshops explored steps that organisations can take to create pathways for people into good-quality jobs.
The workshops helped us identify nine key areas to tackle economic inactivity in the short, medium, and long term, leading to concrete solutions like a new disability toolkit for SMEs, which we are now developing for future programmes.
We also conducted ‘World Café’ style workshops – dynamic, interactive sessions fostering broad discussion – which brought together diverse representatives from public, private, and VCSE (Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise) sectors. They revealed that despite a rich ecosystem of support, services often operated in silos, creating fragmentation and inaccessibility for individuals.
Key barriers identified included short-term grant-funded programmes, employer misconceptions about the cost and complexity of inclusive hiring, and a lack of seamless integration between health, education and employment provisions.
This collaboration was crucial in identifying actionable strategies to overcome long-standing systemic issues. Through these collaborative dialogues, we aimed to co-design solutions such as simplified recruitment processes, immediate practical support and flexible employer toolkits. The goal was to unlock local talent and design ‘good work’ – employment that is meaningful and supportive, offering fair conditions and opportunities for growth.
By investing in local talent and fostering cross-sector collaboration with local employers across the regions, we are helping to build resilient communities, creating a more equitable future for all.
"We are passionate about building a more prosperous and inclusive society, and we are continuing our work to tackle economic inactivity."
Stephen Bediako OBE, Deloitte Partner
