County Councils Network

What County Councils Network does

The County Councils Network (CCN) is a UK cross-party membership organisation founded in 1989 that represents 39 county councils and unitary councils (21 county councils and 18 unitary councils) in England. It functions as the largest grouping of upper-tier local authorities in the country, collectively covering approximately 27 million residents, 12 million jobs, 70% of England's roads, and an economic contribution exceeding £760bn annually. CCN develops policy positions, commissions agenda-setting research, publishes reports, and presents evidence-based solutions to national decision-makers on issues spanning adult social care, children's services, housing, devolution, transport, finance, and local government reorganisation.

CCN's core product is membership representation and policy advocacy, delivered through research and publications, a flagship Annual Conference, regular leaders' calls, parliamentary briefings, and online sessions. It operates no software platform or proprietary technology — the offering is fundamentally human-led policy work, with content distributed via its website (countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk), email newsletters, X/Twitter, and earned media. Revenue is generated entirely through recurring membership fees from its 39 council members, with no external investors, parent company, or disclosed financial statements. The organisation is governed by an elected cross-party leadership structure (currently Cllr Sean Matthews as Chair) and operates from Local Government House, Smith Square, London, alongside other local government bodies.

The go-to-market is event-driven and relationship-led: CCN engages council leaders, councillors, and officers directly through its events programme and direct communications, while its partners (including Newton, IMPOWER, Local Partnerships, PwC, Grant Thornton, and CCLA) provide research collaboration and professional services support. The organisation's competitive position rests on its scale as the dominant representative body for upper-tier authorities in England, its 35-year institutional track record, and its cross-party legitimacy.

Name

County Councils Network

Legal name

County Councils Network

Website

https://countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: CCN operates as a membership organization representing 39 county councils and unitary councils in England. Revenue is generated through membership contributions from its member local authorities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CCN is a cross-party membership organization that represents 39 county councils and unitary councils in England. It develops policy positions, commissions agenda-setting research, and presents evidence-based solutions to national government on issues including adult social care, children's services, devolution, housing, transport, and local government finance. Core offerings include advocacy and representation, research and publications, an Annual Conference, and regular leaders' calls, parliamentary briefings, and online events.

Product overview

The County Councils Network is a membership organization (not a technology product company) that provides advocacy, research, and networking services to 39 county councils and unitary councils across England. Its offerings include policy development, published research and reports, its flagship Annual Conference, regular online briefings and events, and representation services. The organization does not offer a software product or platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• County Councils Network Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• 27 million people represented across 39 councils
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• CCLAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCCLA is listed as a partner of the County Councils Network. CCLA provides investment management services to public sector organizations.
• Grant ThorntonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrant Thornton is listed as a partner of the County Councils Network, providing professional services expertise to support the network's work with member councils.
• IMPOWERcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIMPOWER is a strategic partner that has collaborated with CCN on research programmes including reports on children's social care placements and SEND services. IMPOWER produces commissioned reports for the network on key policy issues.
• Local PartnershipscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Partnerships is a long-standing strategic partner, jointly owned by the Local Government Association, HM Treasury, and Welsh Government. They work with CCN and member councils on local government reorganisation, devolution, housing delivery, and infrastructure projects. They delivered LGR support with 88% of LGR councils engaging in their tools, webinars and guidance.
• NewtoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNewton has a long-standing strategic partnership with CCN. They have collaborated on research programmes including analyses of local government reorganisation impact on people services, adult social care, and children's services. Newton has partnerships with over 100 public sector organisations and has achieved more than £2bn in recurrent savings for the state and taxpayer.
• PwCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPwC is listed as a partner of the County Councils Network. PwC works closely with local government organisations to help them gain insight and make choices about how best to plan for the future, improve public services and deliver better outcomes.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Local Government Association (LGA): The LGA is the overarching national membership body for all 317 English councils (county, district, unitary, London borough) and is jointly owned with central government. It is a direct analogue to CCN — same membership-model revenue, same advocacy-to-government mission, same research and convening function — but at a strictly larger scope and with formal statutory access to ministers, making it CCN's most direct comparable and broader incumbent.

Direct peers

• District Councils Network (DCN): DCN is the sister network representing 164 English district councils — the lower-tier counterpart to CCN's upper-tier focus. Operates on the same membership-fee model, parallel policy and research team structure, same London base inside Local Government House, and identical brand of cross-party advocacy, making DCN the closest direct peer for benchmarking scale, revenue model, and operating cost.
• SIGOMA (Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities): SIGOMA represents 47 English councils (mostly urban unitary and metropolitan authorities) on local government finance. It uses the same evidence-based advocacy model as CCN and competes directly with CCN for civil-service and parliamentary attention on funding settlements, making it a closely comparable specialist network peer.
• National Association of Local Councils (NALC): NALC is the membership body for ~10,000 parish and town councils across England, structurally mirroring CCN at a different sub-tier. Direct analogue for the member-funded, advocacy-and-research operating model, though serving the smallest tier of local government.
• Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE): SOLACE is the professional association for local authority chief executives and senior managers across the UK, adjacent to CCN's officer-team audience. Same membership-driven, London-based operating model, focused on leadership development and policy engagement with national government.
• London Councils: London Councils represents all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. It runs the same operating model — membership-funded, advocacy-driven, research-publishing, event-convening — applied to a different geography of upper-tier / unitary authorities. Closely comparable in funding mechanism and stakeholder mix, especially relevant now that London government is heading toward reorganisation.
• Core Cities UK: Core Cities represents 12 of the UK's largest city economies (mostly combined-authority areas and metropolitan councils). Membership-based, advocacy-led, and produces policy research on growth, transport, and devolution — a direct adjacent peer to CCN for benchmarking research output, member numbers, and engagement with central government.
• Key Cities: Key Cities is a membership and advocacy network for 25 mid-sized UK cities and their councils, focused on devolution, growth, and transport — overlapping strongly with CCN's devolution, local growth and transport topic area. Same revenue model and advocacy-to-government function, scoped to a different council cohort.

Regional players

• Association of North East Councils: ANEC is a regional cross-party council network covering 12 councils in the North East of England. Runs the same collective-representation and policy-research model as CCN but scoped to a single English region — useful peer for benchmarking member-funded advocacy economics at smaller scale.
• Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA): WLGA represents the 22 principal councils of Wales — the cross-border structural peer to CCN with the same dual mandate of political-representation and policy-development services, but funded via a Welsh-government arrangement rather than direct member fees. Comparable on advocacy output and research portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CCNOffice
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/county-councils-network

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about County Councils Network