Author: Leigh Sparks
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May 2023 – Two new articles and a book chapter noted on the Journal Articles page
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)
Top Posts & Pages
- Transformative Food Retailing, Data and Consumers
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- The architectural heritage of Montague Burton’s Art Deco shops
- Internet sales as a percentage of retail sales in the UK
- Retail Branding: it's not (just) private label
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- Are Retailers Social Engineers?
- Food, health and data: developing transformative food retailing
- Strange Things in Self-Service
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Tag Archives: Policy
Scotland’s Approach to Towns and Town Centres
In 2016 for the World Towns Summit in Edinburgh I attempted to summarise what had set Scotland apart on its approach to towns and town centres. Much has changed in the intervening seven years, and I thought it time to … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Brexit, Community, community wealth building, Cross Party Group, Government, High Streets, Ireland, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Place Based Investment Programme, Place Principle, Place Standard, Places, Planning, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Climate Emergency, Community, community wealth building, COSLA, NPF4, Place Principle, Policy, Scotland, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action plan, town centre first, Town Centre Forum, Town Centres, towns, Understanding Scottish Places
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Retailing, Towns and Healthy Ageing
Today (27th October), the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK) and the University of Stirling are hosting an (online and physical) event on “How can retailers keep us healthy?” with an emphasis on Spending with Dementia – making the high streets … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Consumer Change, Consumers, Cost of Living, Covid19, Diaries, Health, Healthy Ageing, Healthy Living, High Streets, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Places, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Shopping, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged Climate Emergency, Cost-of-Living, Covid, Dementia, Healthy Ageing, High Streets, Personal Data, Places, Policy, Retail, Shopping, Town Centres, towns, Transport
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Towns, High Streets and Resilience: A Question for Policy?
“It is all too easy to talk about “bouncing back to where we were” without asking which “we” is counted and without asking whether “where we were” is a place to which a return is desirable”. (Vale, 2014, p198) Some … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Academics, CLES, Community, community wealth building, Covid19, Government, High Streets, Pandemic, Public Policy, Resilience, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Social Renewal, Sustainability, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Academic papers, Bouncing Back, Community, community wealth building, Covid-19, High Streets, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Pandemic, Policy, Resilience, Retailing, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town Centres, Scotland's Towns, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Town Centre Action plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, Towns. Vulnerability, Urban Retail Systems
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Fighting Fit? Independent Convenience Stores and the Public Health Agenda
The last 2019 Cross Party Group for Independent Convenience Stores, held last week, was a cracker. With all the excitement of the AGM (not really), it was almost too much to have three excellent presentations on retailing and the public … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Alcohol, Best Start Foods, Convenience stores, Cross Party Group, Deposit Return Scheme, Diet and Health, Food Retailing, Food Standards Scotland, Government, Healthcare Retail Standard, Healthy Living, Independents, Internet shopping, Legislation, Local Retailers, Politicians, Products, Regulation, Retail leadership, Retail Policy, Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Local Retailer, Scottish Retailing, Small Shops, Sugar Tax, Uncategorized, University of Stirling
Tagged Best Start, Cross Party Group, Deposit Return Scheme, Food Standards Scotland, Healthcare Retail Standard, Healthy Living, Minimum Pricing, Policy, Promotions, Regulation, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Parliament, Tobacco, Unhealthy foods, University of Stirling
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Do Rural and Urban Scotland need each other?
At the end of June 2015, various invited delegates met up at the Stirling Court Hotel on the University of Stirling campus to discuss the topic: “Do Rural and Urban Scotland need each other”? The event was organised by the … Continue reading
Posted in Inter-depenendencies, Places, Policy, Retail Policy, Rural, Small Towns, Towns, Urban, USP
Tagged Places, Policy, Rural, SRUC, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban, USP
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Any Given Sunday?
Well, the first Conservative UK budget for 18 years has been and gone, and no doubt retailers are beginning to assess what it all means for them. That might be tough given the lack of some details, some rabbits that … Continue reading
Posted in Association of Convenience Stores, Consumers, Government, Independents, Legislation, Localisation, Part-time working, Planning, Profits, Rates, Regulation, Retail Policy, Retailers, Scottish Government, Sunday Trading, Wages
Tagged Budget, Consumer Spending, Localisation, Minimum Wages, Policy, Rates, Scotland, Sunday Trading
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What Are Retailers For?
My recent visit to Poland and the symposium on sustainable development discussion brought back memories from my first visit to Poland in 1987 and discussions we had there around retail location and the purpose of retailing. In that not quite … Continue reading
Posted in Alcohol, Diet and Health, Legislation, Plastic Bags, Retail Levy, Scotland, Scottish Government, Tobacco
Tagged Alcohol, Health Levy, Legislation, Planning, Plastic bags, Policy, Scottish Government, Tobacco
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Social Science Perspectives on the High Street
Early in 2014, Neil Wrigley from the University of Southampton, invited myself and my colleague, Anne Findlay, to contribute two short chapters to a forthcoming collection of pieces exploring social science perspectives on the Evolving High Street. In particular he … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Closure, Community, Competition, Consumer Change, Data, ESRC, Government, High Streets, Online Retailing, Regeneration, Resilience, Retail Planning, Town Centres, Towns, Vacancies
Tagged change, ESRC, High Streets, Planning, Policy, Resilience, Town Centres
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Scotland’s Towns Partnership: new Chair Announced
It is not that I want another job – honest – but I really was delighted and honored to accept an invitation to become the Chair of Scotland’s Towns Partnership, which was announced this morning. I was also very flattered … Continue reading
Scotland’s Towns Conference: Making it Personal
What sort of town centre do you want? Scotland’s Towns Conference was held the other week in Perth as noted here before. It formed part of a Towns week across Scotland which saw other events being held locally as well … Continue reading
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