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Clubbing together to combat the recession‐bogey is a prevailing feature of recent years, and AIS — Associated Independent Stores Ltd — seem to be having no little success in preventing its members from succumbing to this peril. The association consists of over 100 member department stores who have joined together to negotiate the best terms in the fashion and furnishing fields. The association does no buying itself (except in foreign markets) but catalogues merchandise for member stores to choose from, and then uses its considerable muscle to negotiate with suppliers on terms similar to group central buyers. But membership of the association is not easily come by and it's no supporter of “lame ducks”. Ann Foster describes how it works.

In recent years the anomalies in the laws on Sunday trading have become ever more apparent. It is not even the restrictive nature of the 1950 Act which brings it into disrepute, so much as the inconsistencies it allows. You can buy a newspaper on a Sunday but not a card; you can purchase clothes from a market stall, but not from a high street store. And the laws are notoriously difficult to enforce and openly flouted. But maybe this will be changing soon. The National Consumer Council are staunch supporters of a bill which has gone through its second reading in the House of Lords and, at the time of writing, is at the committee stage. This bill aims to amend the laws governing Sunday trading, but with a new government it appears that it will be pushed into the background, only to run out of time. However, there are groups of retailers (who think that unlimited Sunday trading will put up costs) and the union, USDAW, who welcome this set‐back to the bill. Both these groups have well‐grounded reservations about changing the law. In this article, Ann Foster examines the case for Sunday trading.

Mothercare has a good reputation in the UK for operational efficiency, and especially for one of the first and most effective computerised stock control systems. It is also a classic example of a gap in the market being identified and exploited. Now Mothercare has opened up in the United States, where the “child and baby” market is much more developed than it was in this country when Selim Zilkha started in the early 1960s. Ann Foster explores the possibilities of Mothercare's success.

This study describes the structure and function of a new financial modeling technique, namely, the Artificial Neutral Network (ANN) in predicting financial markets’ behavior. With the advancement of the computer technology to date, ANN allows us to imitate human reasoning and thought processes in identifying the optimal trading strategies in the financial markets. The paper identifies the theory and steps involved in performing ANN and Generic Alogorithm in financial markets, the accuracy of the computer learning process, and the appropriate ways to use this process in developing trading strategies. It further discusses the superiority of ANN over traditional methodologies. The study concludes with the description of successful use of ANN by various financial institutions.

Ever since the formation of the voluntary Consumers' Association in the late 1950s this country has been concerned with making sure that the consumer has a fair deal. Recently the Office of Fair Trading was set up which, amongst other things, provides for customers information and advice on the rights and responsibilities of retailers. In this special feature Gordon Borrie, Director General of Fair Trading, is interviewed by Ann Foster, consultant to the National Consumer Council.

The subject of food irradiation has provoked more reaction, more debate, more polarised positions among consumer organisations than any other recent issue in food policy. The contemporary consumer attitudes towards food irradiation are described, with the arguments for and against its use. It is argued that in the absence of any positive message from a respected source for its use the opposition – political, environmental, ethical, medical – has caused consumer attitudes to harden.

Patriotism, whilst not exactly outmoded, is less important for consumers in buying goods than other factors such as price and value for money, according to a recent survey carried out for the National Consumer Council. They are also concerned about service — how long a product is likely to last, how much it will cost to run, and the availability of spare parts. The Council's view is that further legislation about origin marking should be given no greater priority, so far as consumers' interests are concerned, than other types of information labelling which may be more directly valuable to consumers.

Habitat recently opened up new terri‐tory by starting its first store in America in New York — although the first tiresome problem they had to overcome was a change of name to “Conran's”, since there is a lighting company in the States called Habitat. Terence Conran's intention is to build up a chain of 20 stores over the next five years.

“The technology”, as our American friends say, “is already here” for TV shopping and ordering by home computer. The shopper will look at merchandise on a TV screen, listen to a salesman talking about it, compare what he says with findings in Which?, order the goods by punching in his personal code — and then pay by EFTS. Simple. But when will it all happen? At a conference in London organised by Gower Conferences, the general impression seemed to be the late 1990s. No need for panic just yet.

The National Consumer Council, financed by a grant from the Department of Trade and Industry, aims to independently research, report, persuade and campaign on issues concerning consumers. Its work in the food activity has focused recently on three main issues: labels on food products to inform consumers about food contents in an easily understood manner; irradiation and its effect on consumers, particularly on their right to know whether food has been subject to irradiation; harmonisation in the EEC; food policy, particularly the representation of consumer organisations in industry.