Category Archives: Places

Towns: Time for some good news

Posted on January 27, 2020 by

This blog has railed, far too often, at the dire coverage of high streets and towns.  Partial data, an agenda of failure, a lack of intelligence and thinking about what is being studied and a seemingly overwhelming desire to stigmatise … Continue reading →

Posted in "We" towns, Carnegie UK Trust, Community, Craft Town, Dumfries, Incredible Edible, Independents, Innovation, Local Retailers, Localisation, Places, Regeneration, Reinvention, Relationships, Totnes, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fading Glory: the Ghost Signs of London

Posted on January 20, 2020 by

Anyone following me on twitter will know of my enduring fascination with ghostsigns.  It has also appeared on this blog a few times.  These traces of the past are, in my view, something worth capturing and preserving (or at least … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Design, Ghost Signs, Heritage, London, Places, Retail Change, Retail History, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Place Based Loyalty

Posted on January 13, 2020 by

We have a new academic paper out – on place marketing and place based loyalty schemes (details at end of blog) – and in addition to wanting to say something about it, I felt the time was ripe for setting … Continue reading →

Posted in Bids Scotland, Data, Local Multiplier, Local Retailers, Localisation, Perth, Places, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Stirling, Uncategorized, University of Stirling, Urban | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scotland’s Towns Conference 2019

Posted on November 25, 2019 by

One of the now established features of Scotland’s Towns Partnership and Scotland’s Towns Week is the Annual Conference.  For many years it has been located in the Central Belt, but for 2019 it relocated to Aberdeen.  There are many good … Continue reading →

Posted in Aberdeen, Amsterdam, BIDS, Bids Scotland, Consumer Change, Cork, Creative Places, Development Trusts, Healthy Ageing, High Streets, Local Authorities, Localisation, Place Standard, Places, Policy, Public Realm, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Small Towns, Streetscapes, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hull and Beyond

Posted on November 4, 2019 by

  I’ve never knowingly been to Hull.  It’s not that I’ve anything against Hull, just that the question of going there has never arisen.  I became a little more aware of it when it owned the accolade as UK City … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, BHS, Buildings, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Department Stores, Design, Historic Shops, History, Hull, Places, Public Realm, Regeneration, Retail History, Spaces, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Towns and Town Centres in Scotland: reflections six years on from Fraser

Posted on October 22, 2019 by

I was recently asked to do a 10 minute reflection on the state of towns and town centres in Scotland and the work that has derived from the Fraser Review (the National Review of Town Centres) and from Scotland’s Towns Partnership. … Continue reading →

Posted in BIDS, Bids Scotland, Consumer Change, Consumer Lifestyle, Creative Places, Development Trusts, Government, High Streets, Internet shopping, Local Authorities, Mary Portas, Online Retailing, Place Standard, Places, Planning, Policy, Rates, Regeneration, Reinvention, Rents, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Tax, TCRF, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Understanding Scottish Places | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shopfronts – some recent sightings

Posted on August 26, 2019 by

Some people have been a bad influence on me: @historicshops @KA_Morrison (see Building Our Past) and @ghostsigns spring to mind. Their encyclopaedic knowledge – and delight in and willingness to share – means that I am forever on the search … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Corporate branding, Corporate History, Design, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Places, Public Realm, Retail History, Shopfronts, Signage, Small Towns, Spaces, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment