On Thursday 2 July, the SPE discussed analysing and supporting the ‘left-behind’. Chaired by Dame Kate Barker, speakers included Chris Giles, Economics Editor at the Financial Times, a position he has held since 2004, having previously served as a leader writer and Philip McCann,Professor of Urban and Regional Economics at the University of Sheffield and is one of the world’s most highly cited spatial economists and economic geographers. He has won various academic awards for his research in different parts of the world, including most recently the ERSA 2019 European Prize in Regional Science.