Place-making in the Mersey Dee before and after Brexit and COVID-19 disruption: A typology of companies and their engagement with their localities and key actors

The purpose of this paper is to develop a typology of firms operating in a peripheral economy. A three-way typology is presented which builds on previous studies, distinguishing between the ‘pure agglomeration’,” ‘industrial complex’ and ‘social network’ models. This typology is refined and applied to the Mersey Dee area, a cross-border region within the UK with a dispersed, segmented economy. Two case studies of firms located in the Mersey Dee are explored to test the typology and examine how these firms related to their places and to other firms and institutions, in the context of rapidly changing market conditions due to COVID-19 and Brexit. The findings confirm the typology and establish a clear contrast between firm types operating in a peripheral economy such as the Mersey Dee, providing relevant insights into the contributions they can make and how balanced regional development policies could support the heterogeneity and richness of their place-based economies. These approaches will differ from the traditional agglomeration or cluster model, typically advocated to build sustainable economic centres. Further research is recommended through comparator case studies of similar regions internationally, within the typology presented.