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Author: Leigh Sparks
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16.08.2018 New article added to the publications section
02.08.2018 Publications updated to include three new articles
12.07.2018 Our latest Trading Places column for Town & Country Planning is now available on the Trading Places section of this blog
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Category Archives: Towns
Putting Towns on the Policy Map: Understanding Scottish Places (USP) and Data
As an academic, I probably have an irrational interest in data. To a great extent it is academic life-blood and I seem to have spent a lot of my adult life either obsessing or arguing over it. It therefore really … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Bill Grimsey, Consumer Change, Data, High Streets, Internet shopping, Large Store Levy, Leadership, Local Authorities, Online Retailing, Rates, Retail Change, Retailers, Sales, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retailing, Shop Numbers, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Understanding Scottish Places
Tagged Business rates, Data, Fraser review, Grimsey Review, High Streets, Local Authorities, Online retailing, Retail Change, Retail Data, Scotland, scottish retail consortium, Shops, towns, Understanding Scottish Places, USP
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Orkney – the Second Leg
Our recent visit to Orkney was not meant to be about retailing or shops, but inevitably just wandering around Stromness and Kirkwall one can’t help but look at the retailing. As I noted in the earlier blog, the overwhelming sense … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Art Deco, Environmental Quality, Ghost Signs, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Orkney, Places, Planning, Post Offices, Regeneration, Retail History, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Signage, Small Towns, Streets, Streetscapes, Stromness, Towns
Tagged Art Deco, Design, Fascias, Fugaccia, Ghostsigns, History, Orkney, Retail History, Retail Stores, Shopfronts, Soda Fountain, Stromness
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Orc-(k)nee
There has been a lot of doom and gloom around in the last few weeks about the state of retail and high streets across the country. There is clearly a new changed set of circumstances around consumer behaviours and the … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Cooperative Group, Creative Places, Environmental Quality, Food Tourism, Heritage, High Streets, Independents, Lidl, Orkney, Personal, Places, Pound Shops, Poundland, Public Realm, Retail History, Scotland's Islands, Seafood, Small Shops, Small Towns, Stirling, Tourism, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban History
Tagged History, Knee Caps, Local retail, Orkney, Tourism
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Shops opening and expanding, queues outside: the High Street picture that’s not making the national news
I recently had an exchange with Iain Nicholson around media coverage of the high street. it followed my recent diatribe about data. I have known Iain for a few years and admired the work he has been doing in towns … Continue reading
Posted in Car Parking, Consumers, Creative Places, Government, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Localisation, Oxfordshire, Places, Planning, Policy, Producers, Record stores, Retail Diversity, Retail Economy, Retailers, Small Shops, Small Towns, Spaces, town centre first, Town Centres, Towns, Vacancies
Tagged #indie, #morethanretail, Authors, Car Parking, Comics, Diversity, independents, Oxford Etsy, Oxfordshire, Planning, Positive Places, Rates, Records, Shops, town centre first, Town Centres, Town Teams, Vacancies
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“No Town Immune”: Data and reporting
On Tuesday afternoon, I was contacted by a journalist (Stephen Naysmith) from The Herald about the upcoming Local Data Company/PwC report on high streets. He sent me the (then) embargoed press release. I attach it here for those interested and … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Closure, Data, Government, High Streets, Independents, Internet, Local Data Company, Online Retailing, Places, Retail Failure, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, SNP, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Vacancies
Tagged Churn, closures, Data, failure, High Street, Local Data Company, Openings, PwC, Scotland, SNP, towns
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Tartan Cents: Linking the Scottish Global Diaspora
The Scottish Diaspora is extensive and has an active engagement with Scotland. Having lived in the US and seen Highland Games and other Scottish links, this lineage and linkage is obviously tangible. It is also this weekend the 20th Anniversary … Continue reading
Posted in Buildings, Campaigns, Collaboration, Heritage, Places, Public Realm, Scotland, Scottish Diaspora Tapestry, Tartan Cents, Towns
Tagged Adam Smith, Carnegie, Crowd Funding, Diaspora, Dunfermline, Girvan, Heritage, Kirkcaldy, Patronicity, Pittencrieff, Places, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Spirit of scotland, Tartan Cents, towns, USA
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2000 and Counting
This just popped up in my Twitter timeline; a tweet from James Timpson, announcing that Timpson’s had just opened their 2000th store. Now I am pretty sure that Twitter timelines reflect personality traits (hello, Cambridge Analytica, I’ll save you the … Continue reading
Posted in Competition, Consumer Change, CVA, High Streets, Leadership, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Retailers, Service Quality, Store Closures, Timpsons, Towns, Turnaround
Tagged Customers, CVA, Ex-offenders, failure, High Street, Retail, Retail Employment, Service Quality, Success, Timpson
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