Across the country there is an outbreak of municipal enterprise the like of which has not been seen before.

Last year, think-tank Localis reported: ‘This burgeoning entrepreneurialism should not be underestimated. The sector's combined profits of externally traded services of £1.5bn between 2008 and 2013 exceeded that of companies like JD Wetherspoons (£353m), John Lewis (£885m) and Waitrose (£1.25bn) over the same period.'