Tag Archives: Retailers

Scottish Business Rates: a Local and/or National Issue?

Posted on January 8, 2020 by

A fair degree of concern was whipped up in the run-up to the New Year by the vote in the Scottish Parliament to give local councils the ability to set non-domestic, i.e. business rates. This is not yet confirmed as … Continue reading →

Posted in Barclay Review, Bids Scotland, Government, Internet shopping, Legislation, Local Authorities, Local Retailers, Localisation, MSPs, Online Retailing, Rates, Regulation, Retail Levy, Retail Policy, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retailing, Small Business Bonus Scheme, Small Shops, Tax, Towns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Policy Interventions for Healthier Diets: Insights from Scotland

Posted on March 25, 2019 by

Last week I was in Helsinki at the invitation of Hannu Saarijarvi to present two sessions to selected Finnish Ministries and to the S-Group. As noted before in this blog I have co-authored a book chapter with Hannu and Sonja … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer Lifestyle, Cooperatives, Diet and Health, Food Retailing, Food Standards, Government, Health, Healthcare Retail Standard, Healthy Living, Labelling, Legislation, Loyalty Schemes, Policy, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Government, Social Inequality, Uncategorized, University of Stirling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Brexit and the ‘F**K Business’ Approach

Posted on January 7, 2019 by

Boris Johnson’s view of the importance of business to the economy and to the care and concern he gave the business view on Brexit was well covered at the time.  Dominic Raab’s more recent revelation that Dover was actually quite … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, Consumers, Disasters, distribution, European Union, Frictionless, Just in Time, Logistics, Politicians, Resilience, Retailers, Supply Chains, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Business Rates: an election issue (not)

Posted on May 22, 2017 by

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“The Ridiculous is no longer Unimaginable”

Posted on March 29, 2017 by

The other day I received an email saying that the 2016-2017 Annual Review of the Retail Think Tank was available.  It can be accessed and downloaded from here. The Retail Think Tank is just over 10 years old, being conceived … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, Brands, Competition, Consumer Change, European Union, International Retailing, Retail Change, Retail Health Index, Retail leadership, Retail Think Tank, Retailers, Store Closures | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

The ‘squeezed middle’ and the domino effect in the grocery supply chain

Posted on January 5, 2017 by

A popular phrase used in media and other commentary on the UK grocery system is that “Small firms are being ‘squeezed’ by their powerful partners“.   This is shorthand for financial pressures put on SMEs by large organisations such as grocery … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Brexit, Food Retailing, Governance, Networks, Pressure, Regulation, Relationships, Retailers, Suppliers, Supply Chains, Sustainability, Toblerone | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Retail Branding: it’s not (just) private label

Posted on August 1, 2016 by

Over a long period, retail branding research, led by Steve Burt, has been one of the main areas of research for my colleagues and myself at the University of Stirling.  I have written a couple of things on branding in … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Brand Extension, Brands, Consumer Change, Corporate branding, Labelling, Loyalty, Private brands, Private Label, Retail brands, Retail Change, Retailer Branding, Retailers, Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

An overview of (UK) retailing

Posted on July 21, 2016 by

One of the common questions that I get asked, generally and by journalists and students, is ‘what is going on in retailing?’  There are many ways to answer this, and in the various presentations I do, some of the themes … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Books, Consumer Change, Education, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Retailers, Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uncertainty: Brexit and Retailing

Posted on June 28, 2016 by

This is quite a long post, so apologies. About 10 days before the EU Referendum I wrote an invited article for the Scotsman on the issues for retailing. It was intended as one of a series on different sectors. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Brexit, Buying, Consumers, Costs, European Union, Government, International Retailing, Internet, Online Retailing, Referendum, Regulation, Retailers, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Taxing Matters for Retailers

Posted on April 15, 2016 by

The Scottish Election is in full swing; well as much of a swing as can be generated when everyone thinks they know the outcome.  Some have described it as a lacklustre campaign season; others have asked what campaign? So it … Continue reading →

Posted in Deposit Return Scheme, Government, Independents, Leadership, MSPs, Rates, Regulation, Retail Levy, Retailers, Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Sugar Tax, Tax, Wages | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment