Author: Guest editor

By Professor Andy Mullineux Emeritus Professor of Financial Economics The cost of living crisis has encouraged an increase in the usage of cash for household payments, following a period in which card and digital payments increased substantially. Contactless payments, in particular, proliferated during the Covid pandemic, whilst cash payments were shunned. This encouraged banks to … Continue reading “Cash is back but who should pay for it in a digital banking world?”

By Dr Sarah Montano and Dr Inci Toral Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham In conclusion, as always retail is a challenge and is always changing but retail is an important part of our lives and our communities. What will 2023 bring? As we get towards the end of the year, it is timely to … Continue reading “Reflections on 2022 retail and Christmas trends”

By Professor Andy Mullineux Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business, Emeritus Professor of Financial Economics Making suppliers offer pay-as-you-use, one month in arrears, direct debit contracts would in turn encourage more parsimonious energy usage. Both could make heating our homes this Christmas a little less stressful and easier to manage financially. With UK temperatures … Continue reading “The true price of winter warmth”

By Dr Jennifer TyreeHageman and Dr Scott Taylor Birmingham Business School Decisions about how we make Christmas happen, whether we choose to support smaller local businesses, and the way they are leading us towards a different future, might even reduce some of those tensions we face. The British Christmas holiday is always a time of … Continue reading “Christmas, business and the cost-of-living crisis”

By Dr Sarah Montano Birmingham Business School Shopping malls and retail parks are still going to be busy this year, so get ready to squabble over the last pack of sprouts while listening to Wham on repeat! It is that time of year again! For TV channels it is the time of small towns and … Continue reading “The season for spending”

By Professor Andy Mullineux Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business, Emeritus Professor of Financial Economics Much of the analysis following the Autumn Statement (AS) on 17th November focused on the impact of the rising cost of living and the stealth tax effects of inflation on household discretionary incomes (i.e. income after tax). With wage … Continue reading “Why a hit to the wealthiest could prolong any recession and its impacts for all of us”

By Dr Alessandro Gerosa Department of Marketing I argue that this trend envisions an emerging retail paradigm of neo-craft retailing – beyond the ones of e-commerce and mass distribution – particularly suited for small and independent shops The health of brick-and-mortar retailing is in more precarious conditions than ever. The vocabulary is very eloquent. Discussions … Continue reading “Will neo-craft retailing save the high street?”

By Dr Sarah Montano Birmingham Business School What unites Primark, second hand selling and clothes rental as key trends? One key factor is convenience […] Also, there is the joy of discovery Having just survived the pandemic and hoping for brighter times ahead, retail is once again facing a challenging and difficult time. Over the … Continue reading “Convenience, cost and discovery: what are consumers looking for?”

By Professor Andy Mullineux Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business, Emeritus Professor of Financial Economics While the cost-of-living crisis tears through the UK, consumers have faced huge changes in their mortgage rates, energy bills and grocery shopping – but banks have enjoyed windfalls borne on interest rate and tax changes. With the Autumn budget … Continue reading “Taxing Banks Fairly”