David Leaver and Hassan Al‐Zubaidi
Explains that UK consumers currently spend over £9 billion on do‐it‐yourself (DIY) home improvement products. States that in the 1980s this was the UK’s fastest growing major…
Abstract
Explains that UK consumers currently spend over £9 billion on do‐it‐yourself (DIY) home improvement products. States that in the 1980s this was the UK’s fastest growing major retail sector, and the booming UK housing market, especially the number of house moves, was widely thought to be the main stimulus for this growth. Reveals that the annual number of house moves has fallen by 50 per cent since 1988 but the DIY market has still grown, which suggests that the link between DIY and the housing market has either changed or is not as strong as previously believed. Reassesses the major factors which affected the DIY market in the 1980s through data analysis and multiple regression techniques. Suggests from the results that the effect of house moves on the DIY market is less than conventional wisdom would indicate. Notes that the most significant factors have been identified and are being used in a five‐year forecast which shows growth in line with increases in the general economy in a new, mature DIY market. Concludes that the results highlight the care needed when basing forecasts on a single factor which may no longer be valid.
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In difficult retail trading conditions, and as price‐led strategiesbecome more common, cost control is a very high priority for retailers.The problem faced by UK retailers is that…
Abstract
In difficult retail trading conditions, and as price‐led strategies become more common, cost control is a very high priority for retailers. The problem faced by UK retailers is that many of the factors influencing the rising trend of consumer theft are outside their control. Identifies some of the social and political factors involved. Based on interviews with retailers a general security strategy of containing consumer theft and actively driving down other “unaccounted” stock losses emerged. However, within this general strategy each retailer adapted it to their particular needs and capabilities.
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David Leaver and Ruth A. Schmidt
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nature of music‐based tourism in the context of the childhood locations of music icons from the 1950s and 1960s. The Beatles, Bob…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nature of music‐based tourism in the context of the childhood locations of music icons from the 1950s and 1960s. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley are selected and fieldwork is carried out in Hibbing, Liverpool, Lubbock, Memphis and Tupelo.
Design/methodology/approach
A normative approach is chosen using existing work on music‐based tourism as a backdrop. Key informant interviews are the main sources of primary data with a snowball technique used to gain access. Content and theme analysis is used.
Findings
Music‐based tourism is emotion driven with ideas of pilgrimage, nostalgia and heritage centring on sites of production of music; birth and death of individual artists; and places which shaped their early history. The demographic base of this market segment is widening to include both “baby‐boomers” and younger visitors for whom these music icons have become part of pop culture. It is important to recognise the sensitivities of these visitors and authenticity is a key factor.
Originality/value
This study is of interest to managers involved in promoting tourism and the marketing of place. It provides detail from major cities such as Liverpool to small towns such as Hibbing, Minnesota with a population of 18,000.
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Corrosion control for the first North Sea T.L.P. Conoco's innovatory Hutton T.L.P. (tension leg platform) is the first of its kind to operate in the North Sea. The structural…
Abstract
Corrosion control for the first North Sea T.L.P. Conoco's innovatory Hutton T.L.P. (tension leg platform) is the first of its kind to operate in the North Sea. The structural concept is not the only new feature however, since significant advances in surface coatings technology are incorporated into the design.
A team from Macpherson Paints' marketing department at Bury, Lancashire, are seen here celebrating their achievement of reaching the final four in a national marketing game.
RAPP's resin technology puts a stop to Concrete Corrosion. All over Britain hundreds of schools and other public buildings require urgent surgery for ‘Concrete Cancer’ which…
Abstract
RAPP's resin technology puts a stop to Concrete Corrosion. All over Britain hundreds of schools and other public buildings require urgent surgery for ‘Concrete Cancer’ which erodes concrete and rusts reinforcing metal. Hospitals, flats and halls up to 30 years old are being saved by resin technology developed by RAPP Resins of Loughborough.
It has usually been considered that technical education provides social and educational opportunities for ‘able’ secondary modern school leavers and others who missed their chance…
Abstract
It has usually been considered that technical education provides social and educational opportunities for ‘able’ secondary modern school leavers and others who missed their chance at school. This article discusses the size of the ‘reservoir’ of ability and the extent to which the opportunity can exist, in view of the present arrangement of courses and the attitude of employers.
The Europe issue was long a basis of intra-party divisions within the Conservative Party, and the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European…
Abstract
The Europe issue was long a basis of intra-party divisions within the Conservative Party, and the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union revealed the extent of the divide. The decision of the UK electorate to leave the EU was expected to resolve the issue and allow for a return to unity within the Conservative Party. Yet, under the leadership of Theresa May, divisions on the Europe issue endured. Boris Johnson succeeded, where his predecessors had failed, in restoring intra-party unity. He successfully secured the backing of party members and the electorate, and the loyalty of the parliamentary party, by strategically prioritising the politics of support and placing Brexit at the core of his statecraft. However, it was also the extent to which Johnson was willing to go so as to silence opponents of his Brexit policy that characterised his leadership.
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A gloomy picture of the state of engineering education in British universities is painted by statistics published in recent months. So few school leavers appear to be attracted by…
Abstract
A gloomy picture of the state of engineering education in British universities is painted by statistics published in recent months. So few school leavers appear to be attracted by the prospect of becoming engineers that university places go begging for want of suitably qualified candidates. The overall standards of those who do get in are so low that one in every five students leaves or is sent down without gaining a degree. And the gloomy picture does not end there. About 40 per cent of those engineers who do graduate each year join the Brain Drain to America, leaving Britain with the serious worry not only of how to keep abreast of new developments but of how to innovate in a period of rapid technological change when an increasingly high proportion of its intelligent young people either don't want to become engineers or else don't want to be engineers in Britain.