Corporate Welfare Watch is dedicated to facilitating an open and informed debate about the various ways in which the British Government assists private businesses through various forms of corporate welfare.
We do this, primarily, by providing an up-to-date searchable database of corporate welfare recipients in the UK. Public disclosures of grants, subsidies, loans and other support are opaque. By accessing, compiling, collating and cleaning data from various public bodies, including government, we have created a first of its kind database for the UK.
Our Corporate Welfare Database allows viewers to see which companies receive funding, how much they receive, through which government schemes and in which regions throughout the UK funding is distributed.
We also offer a searchable database of government funding schemes and we have plans to release other kinds of data in the future. Stay tuned.
On this website, we keep you informed of all things corporate welfare in the UK through regular blog posts, company reports and research reports, and with our monthly newsletter. You can find us on Twitter too, tweeting @CWWatchUK.
Corporate Welfare Watch is generously funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
People
Kevin Farnsworth, Executive Director
Kevin founded Corporate Welfare Watch in 2015 as a spin-off from a broader academic project that seeks to examine the relationship between corporate and social welfare. Kevin is responsible for the strategic vision of Corporate Welfare Watch, director of the research that feeds the databases and fuels our publications, the face of our organization at public events and our voice in the media.
In addition to his work with Corporate Welfare Watch, Kevin is Reader in Social Policy at the University of York. With a PhD in social policy, Kevin’s research and teaching focus, in addition to corporate welfare, on the political economy of welfare states, the power and influence of business on social and public policy, and welfare states and economic crisis.
Nicki Lisa Cole, Director of Communications and Outreach
Nicki joined Corporate Welfare Watch in the spring of 2017. As Director of Communications and Outreach, she is responsible for digital communications, social media and outreach to media and other organizations. Nicki brings to this role many years experience in digital publishing as a freelance journalist and social science writer. She also assists with research.
In addition to her work with Corporate Welfare Watch, Nicki is a researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York. She holds a PhD in sociology and conducts research pertaining to corporate power, global supply chains and their ‘hidden’ social and environmental costs, and the politics and ethics of consumption in a globalised world.