The Society for Location Analysis

The Co-op Event

Date: Thursday 20th November 2008, 18.00pm Registration for 18.30 start
Venue: The Co-operative Group, Hanover Street, Manchester M60 0AN
Directions: Co-op Head office Directions and Map
Nearest Station: Manchester Victoria Station - the office is just a short walk

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Peter Woodhouse of the Co-op will speak about 'Proactivity vs. Reactivity in Location Analysis'. We also have a joint presentation from Andrew Tasker (Andrew was for many years in charge of store location analysis at Sainsburys) and Dr. Steve Wood, Lecturer at the School of Management at the University of Surrey. Steve previously worked in the site location department of Tesco, among other positions. Their talk is entitled 'Balancing different kinds of Knowledge in store forecasting', and is based on an excellent paper they published in the Journal of Targeting.

Agenda

1. Introduction & Welcome - Stephanie Durbin-Wood, National Location Analysis Manager, The Co-operative
2. Ice-breaker - All Present
3. Proactivity vs. Reactivity in Location Analysis - Peter Woodhouse, The Co-operative
4. Balancing different kinds of Knowledge in store forecasting - Andrew Tasker, Optimum Locations, and Dr. Steve Wood, Lecturer at the School of Management, University of Surrey.

Speaker Biographies

Peter Woodhouse

Peter is a Regional Location Analyst for the North. He has worked for the Co-operative Movement for the last 6 years. He was with United Co-operatives for 5 years, before the merger with the Co-operative Group. When he joined, United Co-operatives had 480 food outlets; and with the impending acquisition of Somerfield, the Co-op Group will have over 3,000 food stores.

As a Regional Location Analyst, Peter is responsible for the assessment of investment opportunities for the Food Retail Division. This is done by using GIS software to draw catchments and by examining their population and demographics. These, along with the individual factors of the site are brought together to predict turnover for a new food store.

Peter works closely with the Property Division and Acquisition Managers, to assess sites and independent stores that have been presented to the Co-operative Group by property developers and retail agents. As well as this, Peter identifies and recommends potential retail investment sites and stores.

His interests include playing football and running. He is also a lifelong sufferer of Sunderland AFC.

Andrew Tasker

Most of Andrew’s career has been at Sainsbury’s, where he was primarily in the Marketing Division. His responsibilities ranged from managing the Market Research department, to heading up Advertising and Marketing.

For about 15 years he was responsible for Location Planning at Sainsbury’s, through which every proposed new store and store extension is assessed. This included responsibility for evaluating acquisition opportunities, including Safeway, Bells and Jacksons, which involved working directly with the Competition Authorities. Prior to this, he also had responsibility for Location Planning at Homebase.

In 2005, Andrew left Sainsbury’s to set up “Optimum Locations”, his own Retail Location Consultancy. Although still consulting for Sainsbury’s on Location Strategy and the Competition Commission Grocery Inquiry, he has worked with a number of other clients and has developed a Location Planning function for Barclays Bank, which he is currently heads up.

Andrew is married with two children and although lives in Purley, spends as much time as he can in Cornwall, where surfing, sailing and golf are his favourite pastimes.

Dr Steve Wood

Dr Steve Wood has a mix of academic and commercial experience in and around the retail sector. He spent three years at Tesco PLC advising on store development strategy both domestically and abroad. Before this he worked as a Retail Analyst for Verdict Research, a London-based retail consultancy. He completed his PhD on the corporate restructuring of the US department store industry in early 2001 at the University of Southampton. This led to a selection of papers in internationally recognised peer reviewed journals.

Since his return to academia, Steve has been researching and writing on issues concerned with decision-making in store development and is interested in innovation and strategy within retailing more broadly. Earlier this year, he completed a business engagement project for the Advanced Institute of Management (AIM) and was made an AIM Scholar. He is currently completing a consultancy project for SONY and will start work on research sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation concerning store location decision-making in 2009 with Dr Jonathan Reynolds at the University of Oxford. Steve is a member of the British Academy of Management (BAM), the Society for Location Analysis (SLA), the American Collegiate Retail Association (ACRA), and the European Association for Education and Research in Commercial Distribution (EAERCD).

Refreshments will be provided.

To reserve your place please contact Nicky Carter on 01753 848200 or email thesla@mapinfo.com

A: Minton Place, Victoria Street, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1EG
T: +44 (0)1753 848200
F: +44 (0)1753 621140
E: thesla@mapinfo.com