Author: Leigh Sparks
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January 2024 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Economics Observatory piece on Christmas trading (see commentaries tab)
May 2023 – Two new articles and a book chapter noted on the Journal Articles page
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Category Archives: Government
Brittle with Relics and Other Books about Wales
At this time of year, I often post about my recent reading, generally on the theme of retail books. This year though there is a different theme. Normal service will be renewed in due course. I grew up in South … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Campaigns, Culture, Folk Museums, Government, History, Rugby Union, St Fagans, Tryweryn, UK Government, Wales
Tagged Aberfan, Bilingualism, Books, Colonialism, Devolution, Folk Museums, History, Independence, Investiture, National Identity, Rugby, S4C, St Fagans, Tryweryn, Wales
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How is consumer spending around Christmas 2023 likely to affect retailers?
Retailing has been going through a challenging time in the last three or four years. The restrictions and disruption of Covid have given way to an extreme cost-of-living crisis and an almost apocalyptic sense of uncertainty on a geo-political level. … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Consumer Change, Consumers, Cost of Living, Economics Observatory, Energy Costs, ESRC, Government, Inflation, Office for National Statistics, Pricing, Retailers, Retailing, Sales, Uncategorized
Tagged Austerity, Christmas, Consumers, Cost of Living, Economic Observatory, ESRC, Inflation, Pricing, Retailers, Retailing, Sales
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Vacancy Rates and The Vacant Shops Academy
Way back in 2010, Anne Findlay and myself tried to summarise our thinking about the drivers and measurement of retail vacancy. Then, a decade ago, we did some work with the Local Data Company on retail vacancies (First event, Fifth … Continue reading
Posted in Data, Government, High Streets, Landlords, Legislation, Local Authorities, Non-domestic rates, Permitted Development Rights, Property, Rates, Retailers, Shop Numbers, Town Centres, Towns, Vacancies, Vacant Shops Academy
Tagged Agents, BIDs, Businesses, High Streets, Landlords, Local Authorities, Permitted Development Rights, Property, Rates, Retail, Shops, Town Centres, towns, Use Classes, Vacancy, Vacancy rate, Vacant Shops Academy
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The Scottish Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Debacle
I am no expert on the ins and outs of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Scotland, but instead am an interested bystander. You can read my only other foray into this area on this blog from this post in … Continue reading
Posted in Consumers, Convenience stores, Costs, Deposit Return Scheme, Food Retailing, Government, Herkku, Legislation, Minimum Unit Pricing, Politicians, Recycling, Returns, Reverse Vending, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Small Shops, UK Government
Tagged Convenience stores, Costs, Deposit Return Scheme, Food Retailers, Government, Internal Market Act 2020, Legislation, Minimum Unit Pricing, Recycling, returns, Reverse Vending, Scotland, Small stores
2 Comments
“Shopping without Stopping”: When did self-service retailing start in the British Isles?
The answer to the question posed in the title of this post has been the subject of quite a lot of discussion over many years. Most of the debate have centred on the operations of Cooperative stores, mainly in the … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Amazon Go, Cafeterias, Consumers, Cooperatives, Food Retailing, Government, Historic Shops, History, Retail Change, Retail History, Retailing, Self-Service, Uncategorized
Tagged 1920s, Adverts, Cafeteria, Consumer Education, Consumers, Grocery, Ideas, Knowledge Transfer, Retail History, Retailing, Self-Service, Shopping, Shopping without stopping, United Kingdom, USA, Womenswear
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Public Health, Taxation and Food Retailing
Following hard on the heels of our recent publication on transformative food retailing, my commentary on a recent paper on the taxation of soft drinks has just been published. This was an invited commentary, though peer reviewed, and is published … Continue reading
Scotland’s Approach to Towns and Town Centres
In 2016 for the World Towns Summit in Edinburgh I attempted to summarise what had set Scotland apart on its approach to towns and town centres. Much has changed in the intervening seven years, and I thought it time to … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Brexit, Community, community wealth building, Cross Party Group, Government, High Streets, Ireland, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Place Based Investment Programme, Place Principle, Place Standard, Places, Planning, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Climate Emergency, Community, community wealth building, COSLA, NPF4, Place Principle, Policy, Scotland, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action plan, town centre first, Town Centre Forum, Town Centres, towns, Understanding Scottish Places
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Towns, High Streets, Resilience and Place Governance
I was very pleased to be invited to speak (Trans Pennine Express willing) at the Institute of Place Management Conference being held in Manchester on the 19th and 20th April. My presentation is on the 20th and so today, as … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, BIDS, Car Dependency, Car Use Reduction, community wealth building, Governance, Government, High Streets, Internet shopping, Local Authorities, Manchester, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Non-domestic rates, Online Retailing, Out of Town, Places, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Social Renewal, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, BIDs, Car Dependency, Government, High Streets, Institute of Place Management, Local Government, Non-domestic rates, Online retailing, Out of Town, Resilience, Retailing, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Taxes, Town Centres, towns
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Who Owns Scotland’s Towns, High Streets and Shopping Centres?
One of the issues raised in the recent report by the Economy and Fair Work Committee of the Scottish Parliament concerned the lack of transparency over the ownership of much of the property in Scotland. I noted this in the … Continue reading
Posted in Community Ownership, Dumfries, Government, High Streets, Landlords, Legislation, Local Authorities, Midsteeple Quarter, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Out of Town, Place Based Investment Programme, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, Streets, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Urban, Vacancies, Who Owns Scotland?
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Absentee Owners, Community, Community enterprise, Economy and Fair Work committee, Property, Retail, Scotland, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Streets, Tax, Tax Havens, Vacancies, Who Owns Scotland?
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The (Retail) Reality of our Current Predicament
Whatever political leanings one has, the last ten days or so have hopefully provided a nadir in political (mis-)management of the economy and society. The crashing of the pound, the almost demise of the pension market, a screeching u-turn on … Continue reading
Posted in Consumers, Cost of Living, Costs, Economics Observatory, Employment, Government, Inflation, Pricing
Tagged Consumers, Cost of Living, Costs, Crisis, Economy, Employment, Energy, Government, Inflation, Prices, Retail, Special Fiscal event, spending
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