ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the extent to which producer service firms are embedded within the local economies of provincial centres in the United Kingdom. The mechanisms used by small firms to establish supplier relationships are explored in greater detail, owing to the depth of embeddedness involved. The study points to a fundamental division between the embedded business relationships small producer service firms experience and the arm's-length relationships of corporate sector branch offices. The nature of the transactions developed by corporate sector branches with contractor services, external suppliers and other professionals stand in stark contrast to the close, locally embedded relationships of small firms. For transactions with clients, similar forms of relationships are again apparent for small producer service firms compared with corporate branch offices. But, embedded relationships go further than the orchestration and manipulation of transactions to satisfy the social obligations and rules of governance in a local business community.