Salford University News
Brexit deal reaction: What next for May?
Thursday 15 November 2018
AS Government Ministers resign in the wake of Teresa May presenting her Brexit deal, academics from Salford react and predict what might happen next in the political world, and also...
Expert comment on breaking stories
Hope for the high street lies on its fringes in the spaces where rents are cheaper and the terms are not necessarily as risky for the smaller and independent retail entrepreneur.
Crisis on the High StreetDr Gordon Fletcher, retail and finance expert
Dr Gordon Fletcher, retail and finance expert
Hope for the high street lies on its fringes in the spaces where rents are cheaper and the terms are not necessarily as risky for the smaller and independent retail entrepreneur.
Dr Fletcher said: "Today's report from PwC confirms the conclusion that can be drawn from the slowly drawn out story about the high street. More stores are closing their doors than opening them. This is an obvious conclusion to anyone who still battles the traffic jams and high parking costs to visit their local high street. PwC's research highlights the plight of retail chains with more than five outlets including restaurants such as Jamie's Italian. The picture that is painted is bleak.
“However, the opportunity and the hope for the high street lies on its fringes in the spaces where rents are cheaper and the terms are not necessarily as risky for the smaller and independent retail entrepreneur. These independents are offering the entertainment, the distinctiveness and the variety that chains so quickly give up for the sake of efficiency and consistency. The rise of consumer power and the ability to share this through social networks has also brought a rejection of this very same consistency. This rejection has a double impact for retailers when the fixed and safe spaces of shopping centres that they occupy become regarded as the very symbols of boring shopping experiences.
“There is hope. Manchester's Northern Quarter, Crouch End, Hastings Old Town and others all show that there is a future for an independent, local and invigorating 'offline' high street even if that experience must exist on the fringes of online and mainstream retail.”
there are some important questions that need answering. When a BSE case is first made aware, is the diseased animal imported into the herd, or, one part of the herd?
BSE found in Scottish cowDr Jonathan Owens, Operations Management expert
Dr Jonathan Owens, Operations Management expert
there are some important questions that need answering. When a BSE case is first made aware, is the diseased animal imported into the herd, or, one part of the herd?
Dr Jonathan Owens, Lecturer in Operations Management at the University of Salford Business School, and expert in supply chains, comments on the news that a new case of BSE has been found in a cow in Scotland.
Dr Owens said: “The UK governments rapid screening test clearly shown the preventative and early warning system in place has worked and detected the BSE disease, which is a positive.
“Therefore the standard measures for reducing any contamination entering the food supply chain should now come into operation.
“However, there are some important questions that need answering. When a BSE case is first made aware, is the diseased animal imported into the herd, or, one part of the herd?
“If the diseased animal has been imported into the herd there is far less concern, because BSE does not spread from animal to animal readily and therefore the diseased animal can be removed from the herd and destroyed relatively quickly. It is important to make sure that the carcass from the diseased animal is not recycled into the herd feeding chain.
“BSE very rarely occurs if the herd are not being fed ruminant protein. There would be far more concern if the diseased animal is already existing within the herd. This suggests all the herd and those that may have been moved on have all been exposed to the same contaminated feed. This would need to be carefully managed and monitored in order to asses if there has been any movement of the herd pre the BSE announcement.”