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Building on an earlier publication in the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, the following article investigates the reasons for retailers’ involvement in town centre management (TCM) schemes in the UK. Findings are drawn from interviews with representatives of independent traders and national multiples, and a questionnaire survey of town centre managers. The article reveals several key reasons for retailers’ involvement in TCM and identifies some significant differences between independents and multiples in this respect. The findings show that the overriding motivation for the participation of retailers in TCM is their belief that it may benefit their business in some way. Equally importantly, the research identifies a number of reasons why retailers do not become involved in TCM schemes. The article concludes by showing that an understanding of the reasons for retailers’ involvement in TCM can play a significant role in attracting retail support for the concept.

Investigates the role that retailers play in the cash funding of town centre management (TCM) schemes in the UK. The findings are drawn from a detailed questionnaire survey of town centre managers, and a series of interviews with retail business representatives. Reveals that although most TCM schemes attract some funding from retailers, the number who contribute is very low. Moreover, substantial financial involvement in TCM at a corporate level is restricted to seven major retail companies. It is also shown that retailers’ financial support for TCM can be classified into two basic types: “ring‐fenced” and “freestanding”. In conclusion, the implications of the relatively low level of retail funding for TCM are assessed, and some potentially useful areas of research are identified.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate some of the recent progress in the study of the history of retailing, with particular reference to analyses of the British retail market during the twentieth century.

Three themes were addressed, each of which has significant potential to enhance our understanding of the historical development of the retail sector. The paper considered both conceptual and empirical contributions to the discussion on the history of retailing, with particular reference to the business management literature. The approach involved a review of recently published literature.

Whilst there have been a number of important additions of late to the retail history literature, considerable scope remains for engagement with, and contribution to, the theory building taking place within business management.

The author identifies some of the lacunae within research on the history of retailing.

The paper illustrates some of the ways in which the study of retailing history can be productively linked with debates within contemporary studies of business management.

This paper aims to print 3D structures from polymers that resist bacterial attachment by reactive jetting of acrylate monomers.

The first step towards printing was ink development. Inks were characterised to carry out an estimation of their potential printability using the Z parameter to predict stable jetting conditions. Printability conditions were optimised for each ink using a Dimatix DMP-2800, which enabled 3D structures to be fabricated.

UV photo-initiated polymers, which resist bacterial attachment, were found to be printable using piezo-based inkjet printers. The waveform required for each ink depends on the value of the Z parameter. Once the waveform and the printability parameters were optimised, 3D objects were fabricated.

This methodology has been confirmed as an effective method to 3D print materials that have been demonstrated to be bacteria resistant. However, ink curing depends on modification of some parameters (such as photoinitiator concentration or UV exposure time) which would result in an improvement of the curing process post jetting.

The combination of inkjet based 3D printing with new materials resistant to bacterial attachment means the possibility of building customised medical devices with a high level of complexity and bespoke features can be fully realised. The scope and variability of the devices produced will exceed what can be achieved using standard fabrication methodologies and can be applied to reduce the incidence of device associated infections and to address increased morbidity, mortality and health care costs associated with nosocomial infections.

In this paper, the novel use of materials that resist bacterial attachment has been described to build 3D structures using material jetting. Its value lies on the potential impact this methodology could produce in the biomedical device and research fields.

Planning review meetings between business unit managers and corporate managers are notoriously disappointing. The main problem isn't the design of the process or the capability of the participants. Rather, it's the lack of an adequate corporate‐level strategy as context for the reviews.

States that the major reasons for difficulties in cross‐cultural communication stem from the fact that actors from different cultures have different understandings regarding the interaction process and different styles of dialogue. Suggests that better understanding of communication within other cultures is the key to success. Uses past literature to suggest a number of cultural variability constructs concerning preferred interaction behaviours and the common themes they share. Presents three case studies to illustrate this.