Author: Leigh Sparks
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February 2023 – New piece for The Conversation on online retailing (see commentaries tab)
January 2023 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Conversation piece on Christmas trading updates published (see commentaries tab) and main posts
December 2022 – End of year tidying up and re-arrangement, including link to EDAS podcast on places and towns (see presentations tab)
April 2022 -new journal article published (Journal Articles page) on Twenty-One Years of Going Shopping and Marketing History
Top Posts & Pages
- The Buttercup Dairy Company
- Retail change and why we fell in love with supermarkets?
- Logistics and Retail Management 5th Edition
- A (Retail) Sense of Place
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- London's Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
- Oxford Street, Hull and Beyond
- Strange Things in Self-Service
- Urban Logistics and Retailing
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Category Archives: Regeneration
Oxford Street, Hull and Beyond
I have never really understood the fascination with Oxford Street as the retail heart of the UK. I get that there are some great buildings, but as a shopping street, though not a great streetscape, it has never worked for … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Campaigns, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Department Stores, Historic Shops, History, Hull, Marks and Spencer, Oxford Street, Places, Regeneration, Retail History, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Towns, Urban History
Tagged Alan Boyson, Architecture, Buildings, Cooperative Group, Department Stores, Heritage, History, Marks and Spencer, Modernism, Murals, Oxford Street, Retail, Ships in the Sky, Streetscapes, Town Centres
2 Comments
Changing Scotland’s Towns
This afternoon (26th October) Scotland’s leading environmental regeneration delivery partner, the Green Action Trust, is hosting a virtual roundtable discussion on how Scotland can achieve long-term change. This takes the form of a conversation with the Scottish Government’s Minister for … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Climate Emergency, Community, community wealth building, Consumer Change, Localisation, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Out of Town, Places, Planning, Public Policy, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Social Renewal, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Car Parking, Climate Emergency, community wealth building, COP26, Environment, Green Action Trust, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Non-domestic rates, Out of town impacts, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Taxation, Town Centre Action plan
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Scotland – The Recovery : A Turning or Tipping Point for Towns
Holyrood Events (@HolyroodEvents) have invited me to speak at a conference this week. As can be seen from the poster above, the conference is on “Scotland – The Recovery”. They have asked me to speak on the issue of towns … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Community, community wealth building, Covid19, Government, Healthy Living, Internet shopping, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Online Retailing, Places, Recovery, Regeneration, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Social Inequality, Sustainability, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged Covid-19, Holyrood, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Recovery, Retail, Scotland, Social Inequality, Sustainability, Taxation, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, towns
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Town Centres in Wales: Bounded Muscularity?
A few months ago I, together with Phil Prentice (STP), had a long discussion with representatives of Audit Wales around enhancing town centres. This came in the wake of the review I chaired, and the report I authored, for the … Continue reading
Posted in Car Parking, Government, High Streets, Out of Town, Places, Regeneration, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Small Towns, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Understanding Welsh Places, Wales
Tagged Audit Wales, Bridgend, Car Dependency, Foundation Economy Research, Non-domestic rates, Place, Regeneration, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Tax, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Understanding Welsh Places, Wales
2 Comments
The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels
A good few years ago, Anne Findlay and myself published a paper on the changing retail structure in the Borders using longitudinal data. We titled this ‘Weaving new retail and consumer structures in the Scottish Borders,’ reflecting the weaving history … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Community Assets, Culture, Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Exhibitions, Great Tapestry of Scotland, High Streets, New Towns, Places, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Borders, Scottish Diaspora Tapestry, Streetscapes, Thomas Lipton, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged Cultural Assets, East Kilbride, Galashiels, Great Tapestry of Scotland, History, New Towns, Places, Scottish Borders, Scottish Diaspora Tapestry, Town Centres, Urban Change
3 Comments
Conversation Piece: High-street strategy: recovery will take more than street parties and more bins
On the 15th July, the UK Government published its new high street strategy for England “Build Back Better: High Streets”. I was asked by The Conversation to prepare a peice about the strategy, its links to Covid recovery and its … Continue reading
Posted in community wealth building, Festivals, Government, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Mary Portas, Permitted Development Rights, Places, Planning, Policy, Public Policy, Public Realm, Regeneration, Regulation, Retailers, Retailing, Streetscapes, Town Centres
Tagged Build Back Better, Business rates, Communities, community wealth building, High Streets, Independent Retailing, Permitted Development Rights, Retailing, The Conversation, Town Centres
2 Comments
The Place for Older Consumers
A few weeks ago I reflected on my academic article output for 2020 and the, to me at least, surprise that I had achieved seven outputs. I put this down to my co-authors, but did point out that this feat … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Ageing, Community, HAGIS, Healthy Ageing, Healthy Living, High Streets, Internet, Internet shopping, Online Retailing, Places, Planning, Regeneration, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Social Inequality, Town Centre Living, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Vibrancy
Tagged Ageing consumers, Ageing in place, Community, Ecommerce, HAGIS, He;althy Living, High Streets, Intergenerational, Older consumers, Online shopping, Planning, Retailing, Social Inequality, Social isolation, Town Centres
2 Comments
Screen Time? Cinemas and Town Centres
One of the things that people have missed though the pandemic is the ability to go to a cinema and see a film. This is a social as well as an artistic activity, whihc raises questions about the types and … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Cinemas, Consumers, Creative Places, High Streets, Regeneration, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Social value, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History
Tagged Assets, Ayr, Catchment, Cinema, Investment, Leisure, Retail, Town Centres
6 Comments
Stopping Doing Harm to our Town Centres
The Town Centre Action Plan Report (A New Future for Scotland’s Towns) has three types of recommendations. Two of these are reasonably uncontroversial – planning, engaging more local people property and data on towns on the one hand and funding … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Emergency, Community, Government, High Streets, Housing, Internet, Local Authorities, Offices, Out of Town, Places, Property, Public Policy, Rates, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Social Inequality, Social Justice, Social Renewal, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged Business rates, Climate Emergency, Community, community wealth building, Housing, Local Authorities, Offices, Out of Town, Parking, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Social Renewal, Taxation, Town Centre Action plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres
2 Comments
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