Retailing Development and Market Growth in Bedford - Example

Retailing development and market growth in Bedford (UK) The report is based on the discussion regarding the retail market development and market growth of Bedford Borough in terms of the changes in the demographics of that location. The demographics of Bedford Borough have displayed significant changes over the last few years. The population of this location has grown by 9% since 2011. It has also been predicted that the population will further grow significantly within 2021. Along with the population, the market has witnessed huge growth in the birth rate while the mortality has decreased respectively. A huge portion of the population is residing within the urban location which has displayed a large number of young populations. The increased life expectancy and low mortality has also enhanced the population aged between 65 to 84 years. Therefore, the study has analysed the increased and changed behaviour of these populations towards the retail consumption of Bedford. The analysis has demonstrated that the retail industry of Bedford has significantly grown over last few years. It has secured 9.5% market share of Bedford. Therefore, it has secured the second leading position within the market. The industry has also displayed increased rate of employment within the location. On the other hand, the retail industry of Bedford mainly consists of small and medium sized organisation. It lacks sufficient number of large retail businesses. Hence, this situation can cause increased demand but low supplies in terms of the retail sector of Bedford. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Literature Review 4 Data Analysis 6 Discussion 7 Conclusion and Recommendation 9 Reference List 10 Introduction The report is based on the analysis of retail market in Bedford, a county town of Bedfordshire. Bedford is one of the largest urban areas within Wales and England. Bedford has secured 69th position in terms of population. With the increase in the population, the industry structure, turnover size and employment size and requirement are also increasing within Bedford (Oakley, 2014). The report will focus on the discussion about the development of the retail market of Bedford in terms of business units, turnover and employment size. It is also targeted to analyse the retail market growth of Bedford. The major objectives of the study include: Analysis of the retail market of Bedford. Analysis of the retail business development in terms of business units. Analysis of retail business growth in terms of population and expectancy increase in Bedford. Analysis of the employment size and employment opportunities in the retail industry of Bedford. Analysis of the market growth in terms of revenue size of the retail market of Bedford. The research will be essential to assess the retail market growth of Bedford in comparison to other parts of the United Kingdom. The study will be important to measure the future growth potential of the retail market of Bedford. It will also highlight the future employment opportunity of Bedford in terms of retailing industry. Literature Review The retail sector is one of the major parts of the economy of the UK. The combined retail sectors of different parts of the UK provide almost 5% of the total GDP. Evans, (2011) have provided an in-depth overview about the impact of retailing activities on the economy of any country. The authors have mentioned that retailing activities are one of the vital contributors of employment and economic development of any country. They have also mentioned that retail trends provide a clear view about the overall economy of any nation (Megicks, 2007; Nickson, et al., 2012). Girod and Rugman (2005) have evaluated that change in population and migration hugely influences the change in the number as well as growth of retail business and employment of any location. As per Wrigley and Lowe, (2014) the changing demographics of the UK has highly influenced the purchasing power, shopping behaviour and shopping preferences of the consumers. Different researches have demonstrated that demographic distribution, household composition, age structure and ethnicity of different parts of the UK are going through a number of changes. This change is providing a number of impacts on the retail business sectors within the locations (Abdou, et al., 2012). Fernie and Moore, (2013) have mentioned that the major challenge faced by the UK retail industry is the understanding and adaption of the demands and tastes of the aging population. Different researches have estimated that the 65 years old population can increase by 43% by the end of 2030. Therefore, the retail businesses need to modify their offerings as per their preferences and demands to secure a huge market share of the industry (Burton, et al., 2004). The population of Bedford Borough is rapidly increasing over the last few years. Between 2001 and 2013 the population of the Bedford Borough has witnessed an increase of 9% i.e. 161,400. The data of Bedford Borough Council (2014) has also depicted that the birth rate of Bedford has increased between 2008 and 2013, while the mortality rate is quite lower than other parts of England and East of England. The data of Bedford Borough Council (2014) has demonstrated that in 2013, the birth rate of Bedford Borough is 2074 while the death rate is 1330 only. This situation cause higher growth in the population of the location. It also provides an increased rate of old age population that are aged between 65+ and 85+. The fertility rate of Bedford Borough has displayed significant increase within last few years. During 2012, the fertility rate of Bedford Borough was 66.9 which were higher than the fertility rate of 2004 to 2007. The lower mortality rate has also increased the life expectancy of the population. The life expectancy of Bedford Borough is quite higher than the average population of East of England. According to the report of Bedford Borough Council (2014), disability free life expectancy on the average female population in Bedford is 67.8 while it is 66.0 for the male population. The current data has shown that Borough of Bedford possesses near about 67,000 of households. According to the data of Bedford Borough Council (2014), a huge part of Bedford Borough is expecting the establishment of at least 8000 new households between 2014 and 2021. Therefore, it has been estimated that the population will also increase by 8%, i.e. 174,700. The report has also detailed that almost two third of the population i.e. 63.2% of Bedford is situated in the urban areas while only one third of the population (36.8%) is based in the rural locations. The age of population of urban area is significantly different from the age of population in rural areas. As per the data of 2013, 53.8% of the population in the urban location is aged less than 40 years. On the other hand, only 44% of the population of rural location falls under the age bracket of 40 years. The increase in the households of different parts of Bedford has automatically enhanced the necessity of household products. Apart from the enhanced birth rate and decrease in mortality, the increase in the international migration has also influenced the growth of population and market of Bedford Borough. The main source of assessing the migrated population is the data of National Insurance Number registrations (NINo). According to NINo, during 2011, 1904 people have been migrated to Bedford, while in 2013 the number of migrated population was 1748. Almost 36% of the migrated population of Bedford belongs to young population as they are aged between 20 and 29 years The average age of the population in Bedford is 39.6. Hence, the population of Bedford highly consists of young population. As per the data of 2013, only 16.8% of the population in Bedford is over 65 years. The working age of the Bedford population is 16 years to 64 years for both men and women. Between 2001 and 2013 the working age population of Bedford has increased by 7% i.e. 95,250 to 101,890. Data Analysis The analysis of the data for National Statistics (2013) has detailed that the retail industry of the UK consist of 187,560 retail units. As per the data of last year, the retailing business has witnessed decrease by near about 0.9% from 189,280. A huge part of the retail units of the UK comprises of the small and medium sized businesses which consists of 4 to 250 employees. As per the data of 2013, the small and medium sized retail industry of the UK consists of almost 187,100 units i.e. almost 99% of the entire retail industry. The report of National Statistics (2013) has also demonstrated that the annual revenue of almost 170,885 retail business units is still lower than 1 million pounds. On the other hand, only 15,420 retail business units have displayed annual revenue between 1 million to 1 billion pounds. A highest number of retail units (152,960) are following the business pattern of public corporation and sole proprietorship. The retail industry covers a significant part of the market of Bedford. The data of Office for National Statistics (2013) has demonstrated that the Bedford Borough consists of total 1525 retail business units. According to the data it can be analyzed that the retail units of Bedford Borough covers almost 9.5% of the total commercial industry of Bedford. The market shares of the retail businesses in Bedford are quite higher than other business industries. As per the data of 2013, the retail industry of Bedford has secured the second position in terms of market share while the leading position has been secured by professional and technical sector. The employment size of Bedford has also demonstrated unique characteristics. Almost 99% of the organisations are the small and medium sized businesses within Bedford while only 1 % comprises of large businesses. Hence, a huge portion of the organisations consist of 4 to 250 employees on an average. According to the data of Office for National Statistics (2011), the retail industry of Bedford has employed 17.1% of the total working age population. As per the data, the retail business industry of Bedford consists of the highest percentage in terms of employment out of all other business sectors. A major portion of the businesses in Bedford has demonstrated annual revenue between 50,000 to 1 million pounds. Discussion According to the analysis, it can be said that the increase in the population of Bedford has highly influenced the retail business development of that area. A number of factors have enhanced the business growth and employment in the retail sector of Bedford Borough. The most important factor for the retail business growth is the increase in population as well as the life expectancy of the population of Bedford. The increasing population has enhanced the demand of retail products for their day to day life style. The high life expectancy has increased the population aged between 65 to 85 years old. The increase in life expectancy and aged population has influenced the requirement of a huge number of pharmaceutical products, nutritional goods, health care products and healthy food supplements. Most of these products require small retail outlets and convenient or pharmaceutical stores. These requirements have boosted the number of specific small and medium sized retail businesses within Bedford Borough. Another important aspect for the development of retail business and market growth is the increase in households within the urban locations of Bedford. Along with the population, the household and household related requirement has also elevated within Bedford. Almost two third parts of the households are situated within the urban location of Bedford. Most of the population of the urban location are within 40 years old. Therefore, the requirement and demands of these populations is quite different in terms of the aged population of the urban and rural locations. Most of these populations are employed and professional. The number of households in Bedford is increasing rapidly over the period of time. Therefore, these sections of Bedford demonstrate significant demand for household related products, kitchen products, sanitary products and toiletries. This increased requirement of household products within Bedford has influenced the establishment of different multi-brand retail stores as well as convenient stores. The increased birth rate is one of the major reasons behind the market growth of the retail industry in Bedford. During 2012, the location has demonstrated significant growth in the fertility rate in comparison to the different parts of the east of England. This situation has also enhanced the requirements of baby foods, baby clothing and baby care products. Therefore, this change in demand has influenced the initiation of a number of retail outlets which is targeted to serve these needs of the society. The increase of the young population within Bedford has also elevated the requirement of job opportunities within the locations. A huge part of the migrated population is also aged within 20-29 years. Therefore, it has also boosted the job requirement within Bedford. Hence, the abundance of skilled workforce has encouraged a number of organisations to enhance their retail unites within Bedford. The increase in the international immigration has also elevated the population from different ethnic and cultural background. Hence, this change in the social structure has encouraged a number of multinational retail outlets to introduce their retail businesses within the market of Bedford. This increase in the retail businesses in the market of Bedford has gradually increased the employment rate of the location. The availability of a large number of retail outlets, multi-brand stores, pharmaceutical stores and convenient stores has gradually increased the employment rate of this area. Conclusion and Recommendation The discussion and analysis of this report has evaluated the growth in the population of Bedford. This analysis has illustrated that a huge part of the population of Bedford mainly consist of urban as well as young population. The increased fertility rate as well as low mortality rate has also enhanced the aged population within Bedford. The study has evaluated that the households in Bedford has displayed high increase in the households of urban locations. This increase in the population and household comprises of the local as well as immigrated population of Bedford. This changes in the social structure and population has hugely influenced different business sectors of the location. The increase and differences of needs has elevated the requirement and opportunities of retail businesses. This situation has assisted the retail business industry of Bedford to secure 9.5% market share in comparison to other leading business industries. The increase in retail units has also enhanced the employment opportunities within the market. On the other hand, the retail sector of Bedford is consists of only small and medium sized organisation. A very limited number of large organisations have demonstrated strong position in the retail industry. The estimated increase in the household and population of Bedford will certainly require a large number of retail units. The scarcity of large retail units can display incompetency in terms of serving the increased need of the market. Therefore, the regulatory bodies need to shift their concern to invite and invest on large retail business outlets. Reference List Abdou, H. A., Kuzmic, A., Pointon, J. and Lister, R. J., 2012. Determinants of capital structure in the UK retail industry: A comparison of multiple regression and generalized regression neural network. Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, 19(3), pp. 151-169. Bedford Borough Council. 2014. Bedford Borough Profile. [pdf] Bedford Borough Council. Available at   [Accessed 14 May 2015]. Burton, D., Knights, D., Leyshon, A., Alferoff, C. and Signoretta, P., 2004. Making a market: the UK retail financial services industry and the rise of the complex sub-prime credit market. Competition and Change, 8(1), pp. 3-25. Evans, J. R., 2011. Retailing in perspective: the past is a prologue to the future. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 21(1), pp. 1-31. Fernie, S. and Moore, C., 2013. Principles of retailing. London: Routledge. Girod, S. J. and Rugman, A. M., 2005. Regional business networks and the multinational retail sector. Long Range Planning, 38(4), pp. 335-357. Megicks, P., 2007. Levels of strategy and performance in UK small retail businesses. Management Decision, 45(3), pp. 484-502. Nickson, D., Warhurst, C., Commander, J., Hurrell, S. A. and Cullen, A. M., 2012. Soft skills and employability: Evidence from UK retail. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 33(1), pp. 65-84. Oakley, M. 2014. Bedford Borough Partnership Growth & Skills Board. [pdf] Available at [Accessed 14 May 2015]. Wrigley, N. and Lowe, M., 2014. Reading retail: a geographical perspective on retailing and consumption spaces. London: Routledge. Read More