Paint Your Town Red: How Preston Took Back Control and Your Town Can Too

by Matthew Brown, Rhian Jones

Over the last decade, Preston City Council and its partners have earned Preston the title of Most Improved City by generating and democratising wealth at a local level. Through the experience of Preston City Council’s leader Matthew Brown, a main advocate of the new Democratic Economy and the driving-force behind the world-recognized Preston Model, this book explores how local actions can meaningfully transfer economic, social and political power back to communities.

But beyond Preston, Community Wealth-Building is a significant and growing movement in the UK and across the world. Using analysis, interviews and case studies to examine how a variety of local communities are applying similar principles to take control of their own circumstances, Paint Your Town Red gives us a blueprint for the wholesale transformation of our currently failing economic system.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Economics, Urbanism, British Literature

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 11, 2021

About the author

Librarian Note: There are several authors in the GoodReads database with this name. Those listed below have multiple books listed on GoodReads.

Matthew Brown (2 spaces): co-author of the JeeMin series with Lori Brown
Matthew Brown (3 spaces): GRs author, multiple genres
Matthew Brown (4 spaces): comics and dark cartoons
Matthew Brown (5 spaces): lawyer who specializes in Christian causes
Matthew Brown (6 spaces): print on demand books
Matthew Brown (7 spaces): British history professor with a focus on South America
Matthew Brown (8 spaces): music theory
Matthew Brown (9 spaces): narrator
Matthew Brown (10 spaces): poetry and horror
Matthew Brown (11 spaces): coloring books
Matthew Brown (12 spaces): self-help, crafts; all books have random “initials”

Reviews

[Julian Worker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paint Your Town Red tells the story of how one city in the north of England decided to level up without waiting for London to do something about it.

Community Wealth-Building is a growing movement in the UK and elsewhere, aimed at transferring economic, social, and political power back to local communities.

Exploring how a variety of communities are applying similar principles to take back control - including the best example Mondragon in the Basque Country - Paint Your Town Red gives us a blueprint for the wholesale transformation of our currently failing economic system.

Of course, if you think everything is OK with the economy and are happy with globalisation allowing local money to flow out of the local area, then this book is probably not for you. It's your choice, but at least realise what's going on and that there are alternatives.

[Matthew Laidler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paint Your Town Red is a detailed overview of the way in which Preston City Council operates and the ideas behind the so-called ‘Preston Model’.

The Preston Model is based on community wealth building. Opting to make decisions and use resources in the local area in a way that maximises the benefit for the local people. One of the first steps taken by the council in this endeavour was to introduce the living wage. Then, while insourcing as much work as possible and using local small businesses to provide other services wherever possible, the council has been able to encourage other businesses to also pay a living wage and adopt other ethical practices that they champion. Local ‘anchor institutions’, such as the university and hospital who have opted to cooperate with the council and its model, have solidified the wealth at the base of the community and helped keep as much work in the local area as possible. The council has also assisted in the formation of workers cooperatives which, although not always being easy to start, have proved more resilient than other private small businesses. The goal is to stop money that has been invested into the local economy from ‘leaking’ out and not benefiting the local people. These changes have made the council more autonomous than many others and has meant that when they have encouraged local people to participate in the decision making processes that effect their lives, the council has the power to actually make the changes that people want to see, also giving the council a greater level of accountability.

The Preston Model has taken inspiration from other examples of community wealth building across the world, such as the Cleveland Model in the United States and the Mondragon Corporation in Spain, but the book stresses that the Preston Model is not a one size fits all blueprint that can be simply copied step by step by other councils for guaranteed success. Each local area has its own needs, capabilities and resources which need to be identified and utilised for a community wealth building approach to be a success.

In a time where power has become more and more centralised in Westminster and budgets have been cut for local councils all over the country with disastrous outcomes, it is comforting to know that it is still possible to wrestle back power for local people and to prosper even while there is a national government that is unfavourable to your ambitions. There is an alternative to the council leaders who will have you believe that the extent of their power is to lead us through an inevitable depression.

[Keith Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential read for those looking into community wealth building and wanting to be part of a more equitable society. Interesting, informative, inspiring and thought-provoking. Although those from the free-market right of the political spectrum may well disagree! Making me think hard about how I can best contribute to making my area a better more equal place to live ... being white, make and in my 50s local government is more than adequately covered by my demographic!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains both practical advice on how to navigate local government and how to reorganise your local community in a more sustainable wealth-building way as well as examples of where the latter has been done well to the benefit of the community as a whole. Definitely well worth a read.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The work that has been done in Preston - completely transforming the city through smart, intentional community wealth-building policies - is just remarkable. This book is a fantastic overview of how Matt Brown and the Preston City Council took the ideas pioneered by The Democracy Collaborative, and the Mondragon Corporation in northern spain, to focus on how to redirect spending by anchor institutions back into the local community by implementing progressive procurement policies to identifying where key needs can be met by helping form worker cooperatives to capture those contracts thereby redirecting wealth that was leaking out of Preston to the major nonlocal metropolitan centers, and revitalize the city through creating local jobs centered on dignity and community wealth-building.

There is a ton of actionable resource rich information packed in here.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a quick and fun read. The structure and short length requires the book to be a bit all over the place. The arguments are more starting points for discussion. But they are great starting points! There is a lot of justified criticism of the way that NGOs and reformist politicians dominate the broad left in English-speaking countries. Part of this is because it is difficult to hold these groups accountable. A local strategy at least provides a forum for asking more of institutions by offering specific activities they can do, like using procurement rules to buy from cooperatives and so on. Other left-building strategies, like unionization and replacing bad politicians with better ones in winnable races, are similar ways of salvaging the remnants of social-democracy. Will this in itself actually fix things? I'm not sure, probably not in itself, but it gives people something to do.

[Caolan McMahon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went into this knowing little about Preston's community wealth building , and I came out of it not knowing much more.

Disappointingly shallow, this book skims over various examples from around the world (including Preston) without presenting concrete measures of success, theoretical analysis, or detailed interviews with participants. Mixed in are short 'how to' guides that cover the already obvious, and quick diversions to score political points - honestly, not every wide-open goal needs to be tallied, just present the information without alienating potential allies.

Much of that could be forgiven if it sated my curiosity but it didn't.

[James A · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve ever felt like you have no power to change anything, no sense of community or just feel generally hopeless about the state of your area, Brown and Jones show us that it doesn’t have to be like this.

Clear, concise, engaging and inspiring, this book details how to democratise and reclaim the things that matter from the extractive and disenfranchising forces of globalisation.
They also provide instructive sketches on how to set up your own community land trust, participatory budgeting or community wealth building model - which are a nice touch.

[Sam]

Nice friendly intro to some concrete examples of community wealth building in this very accessible book. I’m interested in the question of how it fits into wider political strategy and potential risks but that’s not really covered here. Very jealous of Preston’s publicly owned cinema

[Daan Leber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een zeer enthousiasmerend boek, dat elke linkse persoon gelezen zou moeten hebben (imo). Een beknopt, maar gedetailleerd genoeg startpunt voor 'Community Wealth Building'.
Persoonlijk vond ik wel dat op sommige zaken dieper kon ingegaan worden (zoals tegenargumenten weerleggen), maar dat komt ongetwijfeld aan bod in één van de vele artikels die gelinkt worden in de 'further reading'.

[Martin Dubéci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Téma zaujímavá - lokalizmus. Dosť zle napísané.

[Cabbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

After "forty years of neoliberalism having gone unchecked and unchallenged" in the UK, what can people living in depressed areas do to counteract "post-industrial neglect and its deeply damaging social and economic impact"? Matthew Brown and Rhian Jones have a suggestion.

Paint Your Town Red: How Preston Took Back Control and Your Town Can Too is aimed at those who want to make a difference within their community, to get involved, to take "ownership, direction and control of their own resources in order to improve their own lives" rather than rely on ever-diminishing aid from a centralised government whose primary concern is to bolster the economy of London and the South East.

The writers admit that such a project is not easy, nor will results be swift. They describe the problems and give examples of several successful community-wealth building projects in addition to Preston. There's no one-size-fits-all solution, nonetheless, the book offers a "four-step guide to beginning to develop a local strategy for community wealth-building". In addition there's a very good introduction to the workings of local government. This is possibly the first step for anyone interested in trying to make positive changes for a diverse community, since "councillors often look nothing like the communities who elect them". Engaging with your town/regional council "can lead to positive changes and more reflective representation of an area".

For those interested specifically in the "story" of the Preston Model, the book is less successful but nonetheless inspiring.

[Avesta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an excellent book for those who work in local or national government...

HOWEVER:

This seems to be a book mainly aimed at local government, and not for general members of the public, as much of what is discussed in this book is too technical and complex for those who do not have a substantial understanding of the inner workings of conciliar government and national government.

I also feel like Brown and his co-authors wrote it, never read through it again, and published it - a lot of the parts of this book (such as on insourcing) end quite abruptly and with minimal information, and start by suggesting that there are several solutions for a certain problem, then give only one or two at most (such as on 'How to save the high streets').

I understand the authors have good intentions, and I whole-heartedly support their cause and agree with it, but I feel like the authors painted a too complex, dry picture of the beauty of their achievements in Preston.

However - the end of the book has a chapter on how general members of the public can help bring about similar achievements like in Preston, which I found quite helpful, as they also demystified certain aspects of conciliar government that I was not well-read into.

I should point out that I am a Labour supporter myself, and am quite politically educated - but I found certain parts of the book quite dry, and certainly not for the mostly politically inactive members of the public.

[Ben]

An interesting mix of political history and "how-to" focused on the ideas that have helped regenerate Preston. It's hard at times to work out the audience of the book, with some sections clearly written for council colleagues in other areas of England whilst others are more broadly focused polemic aimed at the general public. Plus there's the "what is a council" explainer at the end, which assumes an even more basic understanding of the reader than anything preceding it.

Still, the book (and Preston council's approach) is fascinating and challenges a lot of orthodoxy in how best to regenerate places that have suffered from a lack of investment and government imagination. As a starting point for further reading and practical action, it does what it aims to do.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

New economic ideas are my thing, we'll never address social or environmental ills without them. So, a book about community wealth building has been on my list for a long time.
It's an informative, if not quite as detailed book as I'd liked. It does explore the various ways local authorities, and other bodies can promote localism and wealth retention. It does give insight into Preston and other regions who have been trialing these measure for a while. It felt a bit watercolour rather than oil painting though.

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great story but was hoping for something more in-depth than what was actually included. To be fair this is listed as a practical guide rather than a historical record so my assumptions probably get in the way here, still a very useful book.

[Mister Oolong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview on how community wealth building and democratic localism works. The proposals in this book are both radical yet practical at the same time, and if Preston is any indication, it's that community wealth building works.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical, but also very dry. I would on my recommend this to people interested in the topic.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read as a handbook for activists looking for a way to engage with local democracy and work through strategies aimed at bringing about progressive reform. Drawing on diverse experiences, from Mondragon, Cleveland, North Ayrshire, North of Tyne, Wales and Preston the core idea is that of 'community wealth-building'. This boils down to mapping the terrain of a given political/geographical area to look for the ways in which 'wealth' can be stopped from draining outwards into wider circuits of capital accumulation and kept with local communities.

For UK activists the model is the small city of Preston in Lancashire. A reform-minded council got things going by looking for 'anchor institutions' within the area of its administration which had sufficient power within the local economy to re-shape supply chains around providers in the the immediate vicinity rather than beyond. By 'anchor institutions' the authors mean things like the NHS, universities, regional banks and large employers with strong ties to the area who can be persuaded to source their supply chains from local providers. Assuming this can be done, the strategy anticipates that the procurement process will soon butt up against the limits of what is available to take on this activity and, in normal circumstances, would mean going back to suppliers beyond the region.

At this point the Preston model asks what might be done to stimulate local activity to fill these gaps. This could be be everything from outreach to established firms to see what scope there might be to repurpose their businesses to provide the goods and services required; encourage local entrepreneurs to establish wholly news business for this purpose; and, most radically, stimulate activity to set up worker cooperatives and other types of mutuals to do the same thing.

The book cites impressive statistics which demonstrate that the outflow of capital can be significantly reduced by these means with benefits showing up in terms of expanded employment opportunities with higher wages for local people. As a consequence of pursuing these strategies the local council in Preston claims its city is an outlier in terms of its economic vibrancy in a region otherwise scarred by de-industrialisation and the outward drift of the young to larger cities.

Presented in this way an obvious limitation is that the Preston model works in a limited set of circumstances – notably in a district with a strong sense of civic identity, perhaps a sense of communal grievance, compact enough to make information about its assets transparent to the local community, and still having enough of these to constitute a firm anchor for the economy. The authors might argue that the basic elements always exist to function as a viable model – it is a question of whether local activists are savvy enough to get the whole thing going.

By way of encouragement the book outlines other examples of the community wealth-building approach applied in different sets of circumstances. The local government regions of North of Tyne, North Ayrshire, London Borough of Newham are all considered, alongside the devolved Welsh government. As experiences of community wealth-building extends across these different situations the language is modified, with ‘foundational economy’ replacing ‘anchor institutions. But the principle is the same.

The virtue of the approach is that it presents an opportunity to at least do something in what otherwise would seem to be a bleak situation. It encourages thinking about a struggle for hegemony over local politics, with forces representing community well-being taking ascendency over wealth extraction by cynical capitalist firms. But does it promise a place of stability, where civically-minded folk can hold the ring indefinitely against the vampire squids? Clearly not. As long as capitalist interests prevail over the larger economy even versions of the Preston model which are successful for a period will be undermined and defeated if they do not raise the stakes of the struggle to a higher level.

So the Preston model ought to be presented as a transitional strategy, aimed at resisting the logic of capitalist accumulation in a given set of circumstances, but always requiring an increase in the political consciousness of subaltern classes if the successes achieved locally are to move forwards. The book does look that far ahead. With so much of the community wealth-building approach inspired by a mutual aid tradition which is itself most firmly located with anarchism it might be that it looks towards a spontaneous eruption of confrontation with national and global capital once there is a sufficiently large network of Preston model local councils. If so it is hard to see what grounds for confidence there might be in that hope. Localism does not have to shape up as a left wing fore for progressive change. It could settle down in the old groove of Fabian gradualism which once saw the municipalisation of the gasworks as the inevitable march towards socialism. Or it could double-down on its heavy investment in civic pride and become an haven for everything local, set in permanent warfare against the global and the foreign. It is best to be alert to the risks that might be entailed with the Preston model in order to resist them when they rear up.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars!

This is one of those inspirational stories, where its taken ordinary people rather those in political office to get out there and actually make a series of meaningful positive changes for their own community that will endure beyond the lifespan of a headline.

Brown cites the likes of the Mondragon Model in Basque, which is now Spain's 6th largest company, currently employing around 100'000 globally over more than 250 co-ops with a salary ratio (between highest and lowest paid) of 1:9, compared to 1:129 for your average FTSE 1000 outfit. Apparently Mondragon also has its own bank and social security scheme too.

He lists the five key principles of the Preston method, though also being aware that each city's approach has to be tailored for that particular environment, there is also the likes of the model used in Cleveland, Ohio too, which was apparently really effective there.

We also get many other examples of positive, collective community action utilised elsewhere. Latin America has traditionally been a bit of a hot spot for it, though one recent example like the locals on the remote Scottish island of Eigg, is also a highly encouraging one and shows just what can be achieved, when enough locals choose to pull together to attain a shared goal.

So overall this is a fairly short, but interesting enough read and serves as a bit of a starting point, if not an inspiration in how to go about getting involved in local community action to improve or take more control over your collective space.

[Jeaic O Cuimin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-laid out book, with clear and actionable steps on how to make things better. It does frame itself within a semi-marxist lens, which I don't think it needs to; it's like a hot buzzword that isn't necessary, and makes a set of ideas that people on all sides of the spectrum can agree on a bit of a political football - who wouldn't want their local area improved, 'democratic localism' vs 'keeping business local'.

overall good read.

[Jack B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really accessible book about community wealth building and how to become a councillor. Got enough detail to give you jumping off points for further research and isn't intimidating at all. It's pretty inspiring and does motivate you to get to the bottom of local issues without giving you a false sense of how much work is required

Very quick read but a solid introduction

[Mark Edon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Common sense that self styled moderates and centrists describe as extremism. Look for yourself.

[BigKenOfShropshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting ideas but the 'How to' very much relies on being elected locally first.

[James Critchley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, provides an interesting and well thought out alternative to political change via central governance.

[Kaon Yeom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of very important information to hopefully solve economic inequality. Unfortunately, the structure is not good and makes the book a lot less interesting. Also, I feel like the target group is very unclear, especially the ending made me wonder (did not realize it was for the ordinary don’t-know-anything-about-this-topic person).

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to read something optimistic about how a left behind town and sort itself out without the help of central government.

A book about how a town empowered itself through supply chains and local contracts, it provides an interesting template for localism in the age of central government cuts and ineptitude.

[Adam Froud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and thought provoking.