Nigel Berkeley

Consumption, exclusion and emotion: The social geographies of shopping

In recent years, a productive dialogue has developed between retail geographers and those social geographers concerned with the spatiality of consumption. This has resulted in a series of accounts of shopping that emphasize notions of consumer creativity. Nonetheless, this paper argues that many of these have struggled to reconcile the meaning of shopping with an understanding of the material parameters within which consumers operate. Recognizing that this tendency has distracted from the socio-spatial inequalities evident in retailing, the paper examines how shopping rituals are embedded in social relations that discourage particular shoppers from visiting certain retail locations. Drawing on extensive and intensive data derived in Coventry (UK), the paper questions the extent to which this geography of exclusion is the product of constraint, arguing that shopping is shaped by a more complex spatiality of inclusion and (self-) exclusion. Accordingly, the paper makes the case for a social geography of sho...

Telematics and Rural Development Evidence From a Survey of Small Businesses in the European Union

Indigenous rural development in the peripheral regions of Europe could be encouraged through the uptake of telematics by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, little is known about patterns of and resistances towards the adoption of telematics in rural areas and there exists a view that the main beneficiaries will be larger businesses in core areas of economic activity. After a brief exploration of the relationships between telematics and rural development, this article reports the early findings of a research project on the use of, and attitudes towards, telematics among SMEs in seven rural regions of the European Union. Results indicate that the predominantly very small, independent and privately owned businesses make very limited use of telematics services, mainly because of a lack of awareness and inadequate training. The main business problems faced by these businesses — cashflow, marketing, lack of qualified staff, and information technology support- present opportunities for telematics in rural areas. Yet successful adoption of telematics applications will occur only if they are sympathetic to the needs of small rural businesses. The article concludes by suggesting some ways in which the benefits of telematics can favour peripheral rural areas as well as urban core areas.

Regional Responses to Recession: The Role of the West Midlands Regional Taskforce

Bailey D. and Berkeley N. Regional responses to recession: the role of the West Midlands Regional Taskforce, Regional Studies. Regional taskforces were set up across the English regions in late 2008 in response to the most severe recession since the Second World War. This paper examines the role of one such body, the West Midlands Regional Taskforce, as an example of regional response to recession, and offers potential lessons for the future in dealing with such situations. In so doing it reflects on the contested concept of regional ‘resilience’ and its relevance for policy actions at the regional level. Understanding how the region responded in this way could help in maintaining a ‘permanent capacity’ to deal with shocks, especially in the context of the abolition of regional development agencies (RDAs) in England from 2012 and their replacement with local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).

Regional variations in business use of information and communication technologies and their implications for policy: Case study evidence from rural England

Abstract This paper compares the awareness, take-up and use of information and communication technologies in an ‘accessible’ rural region with that in a ‘remote’ rural region and assesses the implications for policy. Data are drawn from a survey of small businesses in south Warwickshire and north Lancashire. The findings reveal the overall adoption of information and communication technologies, both basic and advanced, to be low, but especially low in north Lancashire compared with south Warwickshire. The reasons for these patterns are explored. In general, the low take-up rates are a function of a combination of factors: infrastructure; business size; the cost, complexity and relevance of the technology; awareness and training; whilst the observed differences between the two regions reflect differences in business culture. The policy implications of these findings are discussed. It is advocated that local policy intervention is necessary to take account of the differences that exist between rural areas.

Telematics and Rural Businesses: An Evaluation of Uses, Potentials and Policy Implications

CLARK D., ILBERY B. and BERKELEY N. (1995) Telematics and rural businesses: an evaluation of uses, potentials and policy implications, Reg. Studies 29, 171–180. This paper examines the implications of developments in telematics (telecommunications and information technology) for rural businesses and rural economic development. The characteristics of businesses in south Warwickshire and north Lancashire, their awareness and use of telematics, and their problems, are analysed by means of questionnaire survey data. Businesses are overwhelmingly very small, independent, privately-owned and single-site concerns. They make extensive use of telephone and fax services but little use of data and conferencing teleservices. The reasons for use are explored. Many firms experience problems of cashflow, lack of demand, personnel recruitment and time management. They also have training and marketing needs. The ways in which telematics can help firms and so further the achievement of rural development policies are identi...

Visualising the operating behaviour of SMEs in sector and cluster: Evidence from the West Midlands

Cluster policy in the UK, pursued by the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), has readily adopted a simplistic definition based upon industrial sectors and location quotients. Evidence drawn from a study of the operating behaviour of SMEs belonging to two traditional manufacturing industries within the West Midlands—automotive components and clothing—provides a critique of this approach. Whilst the automotive components industry has been designated part of a key, high priority cluster, the clothing industry has not. Using case studies from both industries, this paper shows firms both within and outside RDA cluster definitions display a remarkably similar range of behavioural characteristics. Yet, based on weakly defined cluster policy, one industry enjoys considerably more policy support than the other. The paper begins to question the logic of RDA cluster policy and to ask whether a more sophisticated and locally sympathetic manner of visualising clusters and business behaviour rather than an emphasis on employment numbers would have a greater impact for policy.

Where next for neighbourhood regeneration in England

There has been a ‘triple whammy’ for neighbourhood regeneration in England in 2010. Key agencies and infrastructure have been abolished or cut back since the election of a new government; the previous administration’s area-based initiatives are ending; and property-led developments have slowed markedly during the recession. However, while policy stands at a crossroads, the underlying drivers for regeneration remain as pertinent as ever, regardless of wider fiscal and economic circumstances. Within this context, the article considers the form which neighbourhood regeneration might take during the next decade, exploring how evolving policy developments (e.g. localism, ‘Big Society’, Local Enterprise Partnerships) could impact on practice. Analysis suggests that neighbourhood regeneration will exist in a very different world to that which practitioners are familiar with, characterized by resource constraints, organizational change, uncertainty and upheaval. However, there are opportunities: a more powerful position for voluntary and community sector organizations with the greatest capacity; new forms of collaboration between neighbourhood regeneration organizations; and the development of new relationships between commissioners and service delivery organizations.

Industrial Restructuring and the State: the Case of MG Rover

MG Rover was the final name by which the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) became known. BLMC had been formed in 1968 upon a government initiative to strengthen the UKs automotive industry so that it could compete effectively with the American and other European multinationals in international markets. Within six years BLMC teetered on bankruptcy and was all but nationalised. This paper traces the ongoing secular decline of BLMC through its various stages down to the eventual closure of the Longbridge plant in 2005. In particular it will look at key themes such as investment, output, product development and market failure. In particular, there will be examination of the role of the various owners of Rover such as British Aerospace, BMW and the Phoenix Consortium as well as the part played by the UK government in the companys eventual downfall.

Direct Investment from the EC: : Recent Trends in the West Midlands Region and their Implications for Regional Development and Policy

Examines trends in the flows of direct investment to the West Midlands region of the UK during the 1980s. An analysis of Invest in Britain Bureau data reveals two trends of particular interest: the marked increase in the WMR′s share of FDI flows to the UK during the 1980s, and the unusually large flows to the region from EC countries. Two surveys on locational factors revealed the attraction of the WMR as being its central position within the UK and its good national, regional and local communications. The effect of those flows to the WMR was to alter the stock position so that, in 1989, 39 per cent of the stock of FOCs originated from other EC countries and 37 per cent from North America. A survey of 111 of these companies revealed a number of differences between the behaviour of FOCs from the EC and North America: in sectors and functions, employment and training, the sourcing of inputs, export markets and R&D activity. Hypothesizes that many of the differences can be explained by the different vintages...

Low carbon mobility: Opportunities and challenges for local economic development

The automotive industry continues to face tremendous competitive pressures, an issue brought into sharp focus since the onset of a global economic downturn in 2008. Moreover, the sector finds itself on the cusp of a transformative shift, with commentators and politicians alike suggesting that its only future is one which embraces emergent low carbon technologies (see, for example, HM Government, 2009). This provides both challenges and opportunities with governments globally encouraging the manufacture and adoption of a range of alternatively fuelled vehicles and their supporting infrastructure. This is articulated through support both for manufacturers, to encourage investment in the design and production of electric, hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles and their components, and for public authorities and energy providers to install electric charging points and hydrogen fuel stations. At the same time, incentives to encourage consumer uptake of new vehicle technologies are being used as a demand-side stimulus. The driving forces behind these policies include concerns over CO2 emissions and their contribution to climate change, and the local economic impact of continued migration of volume car production away from established internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle markets. The effects of these processes could offer significant new economic development opportunities for regions with a strong tradition of automotive manufacturing, especially for automotive supply-chains. Other regions may benefit economically from the development of integrated low carbon infrastructure facilitating the establishment of sustainable transport systems. Such initiatives are being widely encouraged through the confluence of various local, regional, national and supra-national policy measures and instruments. At the same time, a shift to low carbon mobility presents societal challenges. Policy makers need to ensure that the transformative shift already underway does not exclude sections of society less able to afford new technologies entering the market, particularly in the short to medium term when their cost