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Author: Leigh Sparks
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22.05.17 Latest Trading Places column (on Business Rates) for the Journal of Town & Country Planning available on Trading Places section of blog
19.05.17 Various updates to media commentary, journal articles, presentations etc
09.05.17 Various updates including pieces on Sauchiehall Street and food delivery in Media Commentary
09.02.2017 Annual maintenance tidying up of site and launching of 2017 sections of pages
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Category Archives: Town Centres
Business Rates: an election issue (not)
This blog has covered the issue of rates on a number of occasions (e.g. rates relief, a levy, some rates and the Grimsey report, the poll tax and business rates) never fully satisfactory, and indeed, re-reading the pieces, with a … Continue reading
Posted in Closure, Governance, Government, High Streets, Internet, Internet shopping, Large Store Levy, Mary Portas, Online Retailing, Places, Politicians, Public Health lev, Rates, Regulation, Retail Policy, Retailers, Store Closures, Tax, Town & Country PLanning, Town Centres
Tagged Business rates, Election, Government, High Streets, Local Government, Politicians, Rates, Retailers, Revaluation, Tax, Town Centres, Vacancies
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Fake Shops and some other retail news
Everyone pretty much agrees these days that we are living in an era of ‘fake news’, or outright lies as it would be better called. You know the sort of things – £350m per week to spend on the NHS, … Continue reading
Posted in BHS, Brands, Employment, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Places, Retail Failure, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Tesco, Town Centres, Waterstones
Tagged BHS, Bookshops, Brands, Employment, High Streets, independents, Passing-off, Philip Green, towns, Vacant Shops, Waterstones
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So you think you know Scottish Towns?
Almost two years ago, Scotland’s Towns Partnership launched Understanding Scottish Places (USP) – a data platform to provide for the very first time consistent and comparable data on 479 Scottish Towns. At a time when funding is tight, there was … Continue reading
Posted in Carnegie UK Trust, Data, Institute for Retail Studies, Local Authorities, Places, Planning, Research, Retail Policy, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Towns Typology, Understanding Scottish Places, University of Stirling, USP
Tagged Carnegie UK Trust, CLES, Data, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, towns, Understanding Scottish Places, University of Stirling, USP
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Retail Vacancy and Structural Change in Scotland’s Towns and Cities
For the last four years, mid December has seen the release of the latest edition of the Local Data Company/University of Stirling Retail report on the situation of retailing in the major towns and cities across Scotland. Last Tuesday saw … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Christmas, Convenience stores, Independents, Places, Rates, Retail Policy, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Services, Shop Numbers, Small Towns, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, University of Stirling, Vacancies
Tagged Convenience, Local Data Company, off Licences, Persistent Vacancy, Places, Rates, Retail Change, Scotland, Services, Town Centre Living, towns, Vacancies
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Unlocking the Potential of Scotland’s Towns
For most in Scotland, November 9th will probably be recalled as the day President Trump became a reality. The irony that that day was the 27th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall will not be lost on some … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Creative Places, Digital, Fife, Government, High Streets, Places, Planning, Proactive Planning, Regeneration, Retail Change, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Small Towns, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, WTLS16
Tagged Community, Connectivity, Creative, Democracy, Digital, Governance, Places, Proactive Planning, Regeneration, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Conference, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centre Living
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Boldly Going to the Borders
The 8th September this year was notable for a couple of anniversaries. In 2015 the Queen formally re-opened the Borders Railway. It was also 50 years since the first episode of Star Trek was broadcast; may retailers ‘live long and … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer Change, Convenience stores, Cooperative Group, Food Retailing, High Streets, Local Retailers, Places, Retail Change, Retailers, Rural, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Borders, Scottish Diaspora Tapestry, Scottish Grocers Federation, Small Towns, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged Abellio, Borders, Born in the Borders, Competition, Consumer change, Galashiels, Opportunities, Retail, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Grocers Federation
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My Serious Academic Use of Blogs and Twitter
Today I am presenting at an internal, informal, lunchtime session on Case Studies in Using Social Media for Public Engagement (there may be some tweets at #stirsocialmedia). Four of us (I am joined by Rachel Norman: @AFSRachel, Paul Cairney: @CairneyPaul, … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Education, High Streets, Institute for Retail Studies, Public Engagement, Research, Research Impact, Retailing, Scottish Retailing, Social media, Town Centres, Twitter, University of Stirling
Tagged Academics, Blogs, Impact, Institute for Retail Studies, Public Engagement, Research, Research Impact, Retailing, Scotial media, Serious academic, Twitter, University of Stirling
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