Author: Leigh Sparks
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January 2024 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Economics Observatory piece on Christmas trading (see commentaries tab)
May 2023 – Two new articles and a book chapter noted on the Journal Articles page
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Tag Archives: Scotland
Stirlingretail.com : The 2023 Review
It’s that time of year again. The blog is another year older, but certainly not any wiser. At this point I normally reflect on the visitor activity on the blog during the year – and this year is going to … Continue reading
Posted in Branding, Bristol Pound, Cinemas, Cooperatives, Eataly, Grocery retailing, High Streets, Internet shopping, Market Shares, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Online Retailing, Places, Retailers, Retailing, Royal society of Edinburgh, Scotland's National Academy, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, Self-Service, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Branding, Cinemas, Cooperative Movement, Eataly, Grocery market, Internet Sales, Market Shares, Place, Review, Royal Societyt of Edinburgh, Scotland, Self-service checkouts, Stirling Council, Stirling Retail, Town Centres, towns, Welsh Dairies
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Regenerative Scotland: Town Centre Regeneration
A couple of months ago I sat down with Ariane Burgess MSP and Kimberley Guthrie to chat about town centre regeneration – well, we virtually sat down as we were in three different locations. Ariane is a Scottish Greens MSP … Continue reading
Posted in High Streets, Independents, MSPs, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Places, Planning, Public Policy, Regeneration, Retail Change, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Ariane Burgess, High Streets, Places, Regenerative Scotland, Retail, Scotland, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Towns and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centres, towns
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The UK Government’s Long Term Plan for Towns
Last weekend saw the unveiling of the UK Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns. A media blitz, at the beginning of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester gathered the intended headlines. A 27-page document, supported by a methodology on how the … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Car Dependency, Community, High Streets, Local Authorities, Permitted Development Rights, Places, Town Centres, Towns, UK Government
Tagged Build Back Better, Conservative Party, Funding, High Street Task Force, High Streets, Levelling-Up, Long Term Plan for Towns, Scotland, Scotlands, Town Board, Town Teams, towns, UK Government
1 Comment
The Scottish Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Debacle
I am no expert on the ins and outs of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Scotland, but instead am an interested bystander. You can read my only other foray into this area on this blog from this post in … Continue reading
Posted in Consumers, Convenience stores, Costs, Deposit Return Scheme, Food Retailing, Government, Herkku, Legislation, Minimum Unit Pricing, Politicians, Recycling, Returns, Reverse Vending, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Small Shops, UK Government
Tagged Convenience stores, Costs, Deposit Return Scheme, Food Retailers, Government, Internal Market Act 2020, Legislation, Minimum Unit Pricing, Recycling, returns, Reverse Vending, Scotland, Small stores
2 Comments
Scottish Retail Sales Performance
The monthly Scottish Retail Sales Monitor (SRSM) is a valuable publication on retail sales in Scotland produced by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC). It has featured on a number of occasions in this blog, most recently when I took issue … Continue reading
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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Personal Announcement: FRSE
I don’t often use this blog to make personal announcements, but given the nature of this one, and the clear link to my work, much of which has been discussed and reported on here, I am making an exception. Today … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Retailing, Royal society of Edinburgh, Scotland's National Academy, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Towns, University of Stirling
Tagged Retail, Royal society of Edinburgh, Scotland, Scotland's National Academy, Scotland's Towns Partnership, towns, University of Stirling
3 Comments
The Changing Climate through Ice and Seeds
I try to use my break at Christmas and New Year to catch up on some reading that is non work based (whether administrative or academic work). A couple of books had caught my eye some weeks ago and they … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Climate Emergency, Community, Food, Gardens, Home Growing, Ice, Real Seeds, Scotland, Seeds, Snow
Tagged Books, Climate Change, Gardens, Ice, Scotland, Seeds, Snow, vegetables, Weather
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2022: the stirlingretail.com year in retrospect
This time of the year I normally produce my last post and look back at the activity on the blog during the calendar year. My reviews for 2020 and 2021 covered the two years with the most visitors the site … Continue reading
Posted in 1977, Bristol Pound, Cooperative Tokens, Department Stores, Food Retailing, Grocery, Local Authorities, Market Shares, MIlk, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Places, Planning, Retail Change, Retail History, Retail Strategy, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Stirling, Stirling Council, Tesco, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Urban History, Who Owns Scotland?
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Department Stores, Grocery Market Shares, NPF4, Places, Planning, Retail Change, Retail History, Retail Strategy, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Government, Stirling, Tesco, Town Centres, Welsh Dairies
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Who Owns Scotland’s Towns, High Streets and Shopping Centres?
One of the issues raised in the recent report by the Economy and Fair Work Committee of the Scottish Parliament concerned the lack of transparency over the ownership of much of the property in Scotland. I noted this in the … Continue reading
Posted in Community Ownership, Dumfries, Government, High Streets, Landlords, Legislation, Local Authorities, Midsteeple Quarter, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Out of Town, Place Based Investment Programme, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, Streets, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Urban, Vacancies, Who Owns Scotland?
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Absentee Owners, Community, Community enterprise, Economy and Fair Work committee, Property, Retail, Scotland, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Streets, Tax, Tax Havens, Vacancies, Who Owns Scotland?
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Stirlingretail 