The LMM Blog
We’ve been emptying our digital dustbin. It’s sad to see familiar faces no longer with us post-Covid, including Market Trade News to which we used to contribute. Scroll down to see some of our ‘Market Matters’ contributions. Let’s hope MTN gets back up and running again soon.
Market Halls and RAAC: Oh no – Here we go again….
Every 10 years or so another product defect emerges to plague building owners. The latest is RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete). Structural failures in school roofs built of RAAC in the 1970's and 1980's is bad news for budget-stricken Education Authorities...
Food price inflation: Cuthbert speaks out
Rishi Sunak is under pressure to find a solution to Food Price Inflation. For years it bounced along at 4 - 5% p.a but since 2021 and the war in Ukraine it has soared to nudge 20%. It's of little comfort to Shoppers that the same applies in Europe. There are other...
Barcodes, Customer Research and Model T’s
One of the greatest-ever influencers of retailing died in 2011, aged 81. Alan Haberman, the former President of First National Stores in Boston USA was largely responsible for introducing today’s retail barcode system. The benefits of barcoding stock had been recognised...
Variety and the LADS
Back in November 2018 Government officials took time off from Brexit negotiations to launch two so-called crucial initiatives: A 'traffic light' scheme from DEFRA proposing retailers add red, amber or green labels to show if packaging is recyclable and a ‘calorie cap’...
It’s all Smoke and Mirrors: Trolleys, lighting and Butcher Boys
Retailers today take many things for granted and don't know who invented them. Machine-readable barcodes - the basis of stock control and EPOS - were the brainchild of Alan Haberman in the 1970’s. Forty years before then Sylvan Goldman, the owner of ‘Humpty Dumpty’...
Vat and Jaffa cakes – On yer bike, mate
There might be bad news in the pipeline for Open Markets and Carbooters. For years HMRC has stuck to the ‘Tameside’ ruling that the Provider of daystall pitches on a Street Market is not obliged to charge Vat on the licence fees charged. But a recent tax tribunal...