Author: Leigh Sparks
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March 2021 – Personal Biography redesigned and updated
January 2021 – Updates of Media Commentary and Journal Articles page structures
October 2020 – Additions of recent articles in Social Science & Medicine and Marketing Theory to the Journal Article section
Top Posts & Pages
- "Soaring Vacancies" : perhaps or perhaps not?
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- The Great Re-Awakening?
- Locavore's Bigger Plan
- Retail Sales in Great Britain, January 2021
- Ten years on stirlingretail.com
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- La Dolce Vita - or perhaps not
- Aberdeen, No More?
- The Place for Older Consumers
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Category Archives: Public Realm
Scotland’s Towns Conference 2019
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 Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Bids Scotland, Cork, Healthy Places, Localisation, Place Standard, Places, Planning, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Conference, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scotland's Towns Week
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Hull and Beyond
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 BHS Mural Hull, Boyson, Co-op, Culture, Heritage, Hull, Mosaic, Public Art, Retail, Ships in the Sky, Three Ships
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Shopfronts – some recent sightings
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 Buildings, Ghostsigns, Heritage, History, Retail, Shopfronts, Signs, Streets, Tiles
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Halifax – with Elephants
When I was 10 months old my father ‘forsake the amateur code’ (copyright Welsh Rugby Union) and ‘went north’, joining the Halifax professional rugby league team. This was a life changing decision in many ways for his family; not least … Continue reading
Posted in Buildings, Burtons, Corporate History, Design, Ghost Signs, Halifax, Heritage, Historic Shops, Markets, Places, Public Realm, Regeneration, Retail History, Rugby League, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History
Tagged Buildings, Burtons, Culture, Elephants, Halifax, Heritage, Markets, Piece Hall, Rugby League, Town Centres, Woolworths
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Retail Focused Funded PhD Available – Suburban Mobility: Shopping and Older People
A fully funded three year PhD is available for Autumn 2019 start. This research project explores features of the retail environment that enable older people to use local neighbourhood and high street shops as well as participate and keep mobile in … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Ageing, Architecture, Community, Consumers, Design, Health, Healthy Ageing, High Streets, Older consumers, PhD, Places, Planning, Public Realm, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopping, Streets, Streetscapes, Town Centre Living, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, University of Stirling
Tagged Access, Ageing, Community, Consumers, Design, Health, High Streets, Mobility, Neighbourhoods, Older People, PhD, PhD. Retail, Places, Shopping, University of Stirling
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The Future of Shopping Centres in Scotland’s Towns
There is no doubt that retailing is undergoing a major transformation. In popular press terms this is the ‘death of the high street’, a phrase which is wrong on so many levels; it is not the death and it is … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Government, High Streets, Kirkcaldy, Local Authorities, Malls, Paisley, Places, Policy, Public Realm, Regeneration, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, Spaces, Streetscapes, Sustainable Development, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, University of Stirling
Tagged DWF, Future, High Street, Local Authorities, Malls, Paisley, Retailing, Revo, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Shopping Centres, Stockton
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Return to Sender? Deposit Return Schemes
I am in the fortunate position of being able to get involved in two Scottish Parliament Cross Party Groups; one on Towns and Town Centres linked to Scotland’s Towns Partnership, and one on Independent Convenience Stores linked to the Scottish … Continue reading
Posted in Community Grocer, Consumer Lifestyle, Convenience stores, Deposit Return Scheme, Food Retailing, Government, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Legislation, Local Retailers, Public Realm, Regulation, Retailers, Retailing, Returns, Reverse Vending, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Small Shops, Uncategorized, Vending Machines
Tagged Convenience stores, Deposit Return Scheme, independents, Recycling, Reverse Vending, Scotland, Scottish Gr, Small shops
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Vacancies and Store Closures
Over the last few years, vacancies and store closures have not been out of the news. Whilst vacancy levels may have dropped off from their peak a few years ago, there is a continuation of stories about the closure rates … Continue reading
Posted in Closure, Competition, Consumer Change, Government, High Streets, Local Data Company, Places, Public Realm, Retail Change, Retail Economy, Retail Failure, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Shop Numbers, Store Closures, Tax, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Vacancies
Tagged futures, High Streets, Local Data Company, Places, PwC, Rates, Retail, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Shop Closures, Tax, Town Centres, Vacancies
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