RESPECTED retail commentator Leigh Sparks has announced that he is to retire.
The academic posted on professional networking site LinkedIn that he is stepping down as deputy principal and professor of retail studies at the University of Stirling. He will retire in September.
Professor Sparks posted in a blog: “I’ve been a professor since 1992, and led the Institute for Retail Studies, the Department of Marketing, and the Stirling Management School before, after something of a hiatus (aka a seven-year sulk), becoming founding head of Stirling Graduate School and since 2016 a deputy principal.
“It’s been a blast. Having a job that allows me to use the few skills I have and to follow my research, retail and towns/place interests has been a privilege. But there comes a time to wind down and call it a day, and 41 years is a good innings. For context, the university has been open 57 years!”
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During the course of his career professor Sparks has been a regular commentator on retail issues in the press. He has also played a notable contribution to shaping retail and town centre policy in Scotland. He chairs Scotland’s Towns Partnership and is the author of A New Future for Scotland’s Towns, a major report from 2021 that made recommendations on how to improve the prospects of the country’s urban centres.
Professor Sparks said in his blog that he will continue his work with Scotland’s Towns Partnership for the foreseeable future, adding that he also has “some research and writing I would like to complete and there is always my Argos catalogues and the Institute for Retail Studies Archive preparation to fill any spare time I have.
“No doubt I will reflect on the last 41 years at Stirling at some point, but until September I am focusing on my deputy principal role, which is more than enough. ”
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