Coordinator to ensure that research supported by the ESRC initiative represents value for money and achieves impact across the retail sector

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The retail sector accounts directly for 5.3% of UK gross added value, employs one in nine working people and is a key route to market for other sectors of the economy. Although weekly press reports signal the demise of well-known high street names and are often used to suggest a general malaise in the sector, many retailers have fallen because of a slow strategic response to dramatic and rapid changes in the social, technological and economic environment, most notably technological innovation, the growth of on line shopping and changing consumer lifestyles. Innovative, proactive retailers continue to perform strongly and contribute to making the UK the 6th largest retail sector in the world by sales. These surviving retailers are constantly looking to high quality research to help them find ways to add social and economic value to their businesses. They are looking for new business models and a robust evidence base to inform their strategic decision making processes.In recognition of its significance and to further enhance the world class profile and research capacity of the sector, the ESRC are investing £2.5 million to support co-investment retail research projects. The recent ESRC Retail Navigator project highlighted seven retail research priority areas three of which have been highlighted within the call. This was an important first step in developing effective research collaboration with retailers but a number of barriers remain. These include a lack of awareness amongst retailers about the existence and nature of large clusters of retail related research and a perceived scepticism about the relevance, impact and timescales associated with much of the traditional academic research. The role of the Retail Coordinator is to ensure that the research funded through the call represents value for money and achieves measurable impact across the sector. In addition the Coordinator will build on the findings of the ESRC Retail and Data navigator initiatives, undertaking activities to improve research collaboration and co-ordination across the sector and break down the barriers identified above. The following activities have been designed to ensure this happens. Initially assessing and monitoring the strategic direction and 'fit' of proposed projects to make sure they reflect the needs of industry and academic expertise.Identifying, through one to one conversations with successful applicants, the nature and form of support required to maximise the impacts of their research Staging a series of high profile 'knowledge sharing events' to ensure dialogue between stakeholders and grant holders to maximise opportunities for collaboration and synergyProducing a series of 'Thought leadership' publications based on the research outputs which can be tailored for dissemination to Retail academics, practitioners, interest groups and policy makers.The Coordinator will undertake additional activities aimed at enhancing the impact of the research projects and generating further collaboration and co-investment opportunities. These include developing an ESRC Retail alumnus to help maximise the impact of the research within the retail community and playing a proactive role in the development of the BIS Retail Growth strategy to maximise the policy impact of the research.