Leigh Sparks
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sparksstirling.bsky.social
Leigh Sparks
@sparksstirling.bsky.social
650 followers 1.1K following 270 posts

Professor of Retail Studies, University of Stirling, Chair Scotland's Towns Partnership, Fellow Royal Society of Edinburgh, Extremely long-suffering Welsh rugby fan, occasional gardener.

Stirlingretail.com

Videos
Business 69%
Economics 13%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

c20society.bsky.social
C20 Society @c20society.bsky.social · 4h
UPDATE: 117 High Street, Poole, has recently re-opened as a barber shop.

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

gwladrugby.bsky.social
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Gwladrugby 🏉 @gwladrugby.bsky.social · 20h
"We do not believe that calling an EGM is an irresponsible first nuclear option which will cause significant damage to Welsh rugby. The irony of this statement is astonishing given the significant damage that is already being done by the leadership."

- Clubs’ response to WRU statement
a woman with red hair is making a funny face and saying `` im ready '' .
ALT: a woman with red hair is making a funny face and saying `` im ready '' .
media.tenor.com

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

mikepullen1969.bsky.social
Mike Pullen @mikepullen1969.bsky.social · 20h
They clearly aren’t putting up with that WRU bullshit statement www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/...
Welsh rugby at war as clubs hit back at WRU after 'astonishing' statement
A new letter has been sent to clubs by Central Glamorgan Union, hitting back at the WRU's public response on Friday night
www.walesonline.co.uk

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

scotnational.bsky.social
The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 21h
Plans have been lodged for a new Co-op supermarket to be built at an industrial estate in Tobermory
Major supermarket firm reveals plans to build new store in Tobermory
www.thenational.scot

Reposted by Leigh Sparks, Michael H. Whitworth, Mark Robinson

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 22h
… joins the party of a man he knows to be a racist danger to British governance because even the Tories aren’t corrupt enough to give him a peerage.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott , and 6 more

kevinschofied.bsky.social
Kevin Schofield @kevinschofied.bsky.social · 1d
Amazingly, Zahawi only got round to deleting the below after the press conference announcing his defection to Reform.

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

bestforbritain.org
Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 1d
"More and more, Reform UK looks simply as if the Tories ran off stage, then came back on two minutes lates, wearing a comedy moustache-and-glasses disguise."

A rebranding exercise of the most established party masquerading as anti-establishment that shows total contempt for voters. ~AA
Screengrab of news conference to announce Nadhim Zahawi is defecting to Reform UK.

Reposted by Patrick Dunleavy, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott , and 6 more

adilray.bsky.social
Adil Ray @adilray.bsky.social · 1d
Nadim Zahawi arrived in the UK from Iraq as a child refugee. His family claimed asylum once they were here. Today he has joined Reform who will stop all in country asylum applications. Under his new party, his own family fleeing persecution would be immediately deported.

sparksstirling.bsky.social
Leigh Sparks @sparksstirling.bsky.social · 1d
Today's post on stirlingretail.com is the annual summary of visits to the site.

2025 saw continued interest in my pieces on GB grocery market shares and also on posts to broadly do with Retail history ( of various forms).

stirlingretail.com/2026/01/12/s...
Stirlingretail.com in 2025: the recap
As has become traditional, one of the opening posts of the new year is a reflection on the posts that were popular in the old year. In terms of visitors and views, 2025 has been the best performing…
stirlingretail.com

Reposted by Leigh Sparks, Nikki Fairchild

lewisgoodall.com
Lewis Goodall @lewisgoodall.com · 1d
More appalling news from dystopia central

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
London’s homicide rate drops to lowest in more than a decade
Sadiq Khan says ‘public health’ approach has made the capital one of the safest cities in the western world
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Will Jennings, Peter Thorne, Steve Peers , and 11 more

jamesdaustin.bsky.social
James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 1d
Kemi, this is just a population density map

sparksstirling.bsky.social
Leigh Sparks @sparksstirling.bsky.social · 1d
Stirlingretail.com in 2025: the recap

As has become traditional, one of the opening posts of the new year is a reflection on the posts that were popular in the old year. In terms of visitors and views, 2025 has been the best performing year on stirlingretail.com since it began over 15 years ago,…
Stirlingretail.com in 2025: the recap
As has become traditional, one of the opening posts of the new year is a reflection on the posts that were popular in the old year. In terms of visitors and views, 2025 has been the best performing year on stirlingretail.com since it began over 15 years ago, beating even the Covid years (13% up). The number of visits and their duration/breadth has continued to increase, though the subjects and themes remain predictable in the main.
stirlingretail.com

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

pastglasgow.co.uk
Past Glasgow @pastglasgow.co.uk · 1d
Stuart Cranston's Tea Room to the right of the original entrance to the Argyll Arcade, set within John Reid's mansion. Inspired by decadent continental arcades, Reid decided to create one of his own, starting on Buchanan St and exiting through a tenement on Argyle St.

#Glasgow

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

drjennings.bsky.social
Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 1d
To everyone in my timeline discussing high streets, I've got a report out on Tuesday writing up some surveys that we ran with YouGov in 2022, 2024 and 2025 asking people about how they view their local area... the findings may be of interest in various respects! #staytuned #towns

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

vacantshopsacademy.bsky.social
The Vacant Shops Academy @vacantshopsacademy.bsky.social · 1d
Agree. Tho there still seem to be versions e.g. www.knightfrank.co.uk/research/rep... (which suggests headline vacancy is down). Also the ‘only brand closures’ flaw and lumping together various locations some of which aren’t #highstreet ought to give pause before drawing too much from that data set…
Retail Investment Update
A retail report where we cover the year so far, along with our outlook for what is to come.
www.knightfrank.co.uk

sparksstirling.bsky.social
Leigh Sparks @sparksstirling.bsky.social · 1d
Absolutely correct analysis by @kientan74.bsky.social of a flawed data set (or a data set that journalists dont understand the extreme limitations of).
kientan74.bsky.social Kien Tan @kientan74.bsky.social · 1d
While the conclusion is not wrong, a lot of the evidence in this column is incorrect. CRR data only counts closures: yes 35 “outlets” a day closed, but 25 also opened. So not all high streets are suffering, some are booming - and they are usually where the local population has money to spend (1/3)
johnharris1969.bsky.social John Harris @johnharris1969.bsky.social · 2d
Latest from me, on an eternally overlooked, sniffed-at issue that is politically huge www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

vacantshopsacademy.bsky.social
The Vacant Shops Academy @vacantshopsacademy.bsky.social · 1d
Taking that tho on the basis it’s better than most we get for having the early: “But there is hope” and positive case studies and themes at the end. It’s for us to show that by saying “we still have only vague ideas of what the future ought to look like…” it’s underplayed what’s actually happening…!

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

kientan74.bsky.social
Kien Tan @kientan74.bsky.social · 1d
While the conclusion is not wrong, a lot of the evidence in this column is incorrect. CRR data only counts closures: yes 35 “outlets” a day closed, but 25 also opened. So not all high streets are suffering, some are booming - and they are usually where the local population has money to spend (1/3)

sparksstirling.bsky.social
Leigh Sparks @sparksstirling.bsky.social · 2d
BBC News - National Milk Bars – y ffarmwr llaeth o Sir Drefaldwyn a'i gaffis eiconig
www.bbc.co.uk/cymrufyw/ert...

@kathrynmorrison.bsky.social
@historicshopfronts.bsky.social

You might be interested in this, if you can get a translation. May appear on English BBC site at some point
National Milk Bars: hanes Willie Griffiths a'r tsiaen adnabyddus
Yn eu hanterth, roedd 17 o fariau llaeth eiconig y National Milk Bars ar draws gogledd Cymru a gogledd Lloegr.
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott , and 3 more

georgeeaton.bsky.social
George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 2d
Kemi Badenoch describes Greenland as a “second-order issue” in BBC interview.

The US threatening to annex a Nato territory is anything but that.

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

premnsikka.bsky.social
Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 2d
Lloyds Bank CEO latest banking boss in line for huge pay and bonus hike to £13m.

Last year Barclays boss got 45% rise, HSBC 43%, NatWest 43%.

Govts preach pay restraint to workers. No curbs on profiteering, exec pay, dividends, share buybacks.
Lloyds CEO Charlie Nunn latest banking boss in line for huge bonus hike
Barclays, HSBC and NatWest shareholders already approved big pay rises after post Brexit loosening of remuneration rules
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

Reposted by Timothy Snyder, Margaret Mitchell, Jonathan A. Eisen , and 14 more

charlotteclymer.bsky.social
Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 3d
He didn't shoot her in the head at point blank range because he felt like he was in danger. He shot her in the head at point blank range because he was furious that she wasn't afraid of him. He shot her in the head at point blank range because he felt emasculated.

Reposted by Robert West, Steve Peers, Leigh Sparks , and 3 more

chrischirp.bsky.social
Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 3d
very disappointing.

There is a code of conduct for Royal Society fellows - it's not a value judgement to say that Musk has contravened it!

see relevant bits of code and the Royal Society stated values below.

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

lauraewebster.bsky.social
Laura Webster @lauraewebster.bsky.social · 4d
I'm looking for somebody who loves politics and gets social media to come and help The National accelerate our YouTube growth!

Get in touch at [email protected]

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Steve Peers, Leigh Sparks , and 6 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d
Frey: "This notion of inflammatory comments -- c'mon guys. I dropped an F bomb, they killed someone. Which one of those is more inflammatory? I'm going with the killing somebody."

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

yes.cymru
YesCymru @yes.cymru · 4d
Wales — an entire nation of over 3million people— will receive roughly the same money as a single building in England.

This is what decisions made at Westminster look like. More money for a historic building than public services for over 3 million people. This is why we need independence!

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

badgerfunk.bsky.social
Miller @badgerfunk.bsky.social · 4d
"How Wales chooses to allocate that funding from the UK Government, rightly and reasonably, is a matter for the Welsh to decide. In contrast, in Scotland, we are taking a different view," [Douglas] Alexander told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast this morning

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Colin F. Camerer, Will Jennings , and 8 more

willbunch.bsky.social
Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 4d
Something I always wondered is how it would be covered if America became a dictatorship

This is it

Reposted by Leigh Sparks

aileenmcharg.bsky.social
Aileen McHarg @aileenmcharg.bsky.social · 4d
Kind of extraordinary that the new Local Growth Fund is to be distributed by the Welsh Government in Wales, but directly by the UK Government in Scotland, and that the rationale for the difference seems to be no more than "we don't trust the Scottish Government".