The Place Finance Lab is a financial innovation layer for regional food systems in Europe and the UK.
The Place Finance Lab is a financial innovation layer for regional food systems in Europe and the UK. The Lab surfaces regional food system financing needs and co-designs and develops investments, together with regional partners, to unlock the right type of capital for the right project.
The focus on 'place' is deliberate. Regional food systems face financing challenges that are deeply rooted in local context — the particular landscapes, supply chains, and institutional relationships that define how food is produced, processed, and distributed in a given area. Generic financial products rarely fit.
The Lab's initial research focus is on two regions: Devon & Cornwall in South West England, and Cork & Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland. Both are significant agricultural regions facing shared challenges around farm succession, climate adaptation, and the need for new local infrastructure.
The Lab's regional research identified three strategic themes shaping the future of resilient food systems. These findings guide how we select and design our project work.
The missing middle infrastructure from farm to fork — plus water systems and circular bioeconomy. Investment is needed in decentralised processing, storage, distribution, and shared assets that enable regional food systems to function at scale.
Financial mechanisms that incentivise farmers to operate at landscape scale, and business models that reward collective outcomes rather than individual interventions. Moving from field-level to catchment-level thinking.
Targeted approaches to support farm succession and access to land for new entrants, addressing ageing farmer populations and locked land assets across both regions.
Contractual framework to pool farmer-generated landscape outcomes and markets these to stakeholders connected to the landscape. The structure shifts transition risks to investors and rewards farmers for the positive externalities they generate.
A distributed ownership model for regional bio-industrial infrastructure. Initial feasibility study completed, exploring how cooperative structures can unlock investment in circular bioeconomy assets.
Scoping and prioritisation of the infrastructure gap in regional food systems, building on the research published in the May 2026 report. Identifying where targeted investment can have the greatest systemic impact.
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Findings from more than 40 research interviews across Cork & Tipperary and Devon & Cornwall. Three strategic themes shaping resilient regional food systems, and the Lab's roadmap for year one.
We'll share progress on the Lab's projects, new research, and opportunities to partner.