In Brief: the National Retail Planning Forum Briefing Paper Series

Abstract

The National Retail Planning Forum (NRPF) was established in 1995. The NRPF combines a focus for improving understanding between private and public sectors on planning and its impact on retailing, together with a strong research programme. A membership based organisation, the NRPF is specifically not a lobbying organisation. Drawing as it does on local and central government, the private sector and the academic arena, it aims to act as a bridge between the different interests involved in retail planning. From the outset, the goal of the NRPF has been to identify, understand and improve the knowledge about retail planning. Key components of this approach have been undertaken by the Institute for Retail Studies (IRS) at the University of Stirling on behalf of the NRPF. There is an established bibliography, updated annually, and now incorporated into the Retail Planning Knowledge Base. Associated with this is the regularly updated Planner’s Bookshelf. In 2006 it was decided by IRS and the NRPF that a Briefing Papers Series could enhance the mission of the NRPF and focus attention on the evidence base in a changing retail scene. This short paper introduces this Retail Briefing Paper series. The series is intended to be a highly accessible web based source, informing users of current issues and drawing on the accumulated research expertise and evidence base. Together the series helps deliver the belief of the National Retail Planning Forum that policy should be firmly based on evidence and expertise. This paper first considers the recent developments in the UK retail planning debate. The changing environment acts as a context for the Retail Briefing Paper series and to some extent drives the selection of topics. Secondly the Retail Briefing Papers available are reviewed and details of access etc. are provided. Finally some thoughts for the future are presented.