A national survey of 100 food retail markets is to be completed as part of a ground-breaking PhD research project supported by the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA).
The three-year project aims to examine the development of retail markets and how they are adapting to change, in one of the first detailed assessments of markets in England.
Julie Smith, who has just completed the first phase of the ESRC (CASE) PhD, presented her outline aims at the NABMA conference in Torquay last week.
The research seeks to build on the historic definition of retail markets as a “concourse of buyers and sellers” and reach an up-to-date description, which takes into consideration the wider impact of markets on local communities, vibrancy and diversity.
Smith is in the process of reviewing all the information available on food retail markets and will analyse the dynamics of the retail sector, the supermarket revolution and the challenging economic environment.
A number of market authorities have pledged their support, to enable her to collect as much information as possible.
The first stage involved mapping the geographical spread of markets, recording their size, how they are managed and their links with other markets. A working paper based on this phase of the project is to be released to NABMA members.
The database of information will be completed in the second phase, featuring a national survey of 100 markets, and a second working paper will be made available to NABMA members on its completion.
Four different markets will be singled out as case studies and two focus groups have been proposed, before the conclusions are published in the summer of 2010.
Smith said: “There are benefits of research for developing a policy framework and my research will help further development. It will provide useful information and help to highlight important contribution that markets male to food systems and the other less tangible benefits including that they give people access to buy fresh, local food.”
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