Community and Convenience – 25th March – Manchester

Coop Headquarters, Angel Square, Manchester

Date: Wednesday 25th March 2020
Starts: 6 for 6.30pm
Ends: 8pm with networking at The Foundry Project
Venue: Co-operative Group, Angel Square, Manchester, M60 0AG

Introduction

Following last year’s very successful visit to Manchester, we are delighted to be returning in March this year. Join us at the Co-op’s head office for an evening focused on two highly topical issues: community and convenience.

As retail businesses wrestle with devising successful future strategies, those which have differentiation based on convenience seem more likely to be winners. Understanding the changing nature of convenience and the changing expectations of shoppers remains challenging, however. Similarly, whilst community is widely spoken about as a desirable focus for retail firms, it remains in practice an elusive idea. We will hear from practitioners and analysts before adjourning for networking over drinks and nibbles nearby.

Agenda

6.00pm – Registration and refreshments
6.30pm – Introduction – Jonathan Reynolds
6.35pm – “One Co-op Property Strategy: ‘Being Convenient’ for our communities, members and colleagues”, Kerry Collington, Portfolio Strategy & Insight Manager, The Co-operative Group
7.05pm – “Investigating the Impact Deliveroo might have on the Restaurant Business”, Jason Dalrymple, MSc student in Geospatial Analysis, UCL.
7.30pm – “Modelling neighbourhood features in the UK: the example of the Access to Healthy Assets and Hazards Index”, Prof Alex Singleton, University of Liverpool
8.00pm – Finish – We will move on for drinks and networking at: The Foundry Project Manchester, 22-10 Thomas Street. (http://foundryproject.com)

Speaker’s Biographies

Kerry Collington, Strategy & Insight Manager, The Coooperative Group

Kerry is currently working as Strategy & Insight Manager within the Co-op Property team.

She has many years experience in location planning and customer insight roles at various retailers including Homebase, Sainsbury’s, Argos and two years with Coles in Australia.

Jason Dalrymple – Winner of the SLA Student Awards 2019

Jason Dalrymple

Jason is currently studying for a master’s degree in Geospatial Analysis at UCL.

In 2019 he was awarded the SLA’s first prize for his master’s degree.

Prior to embarking on the degree he had a long career in risk consulting at PwC and has also worked with a number of well known City firms.

After concluding his studies this coming June, he hopes to apply his newly acquired GIS knowledge into a consulting capacity with a focus on commercial issues.

Alex Singleton, – Professor of Geographic Information Science, University of Liverpool

Alex is Professor of Geographic Information Science at the University of Liverpool, Deputy Director of the ESRC Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) and Director of the ESRC Data Analytics & Society CDT.

Previously he held research positions at University College London, where he was also awarded a PhD in 2007. He completed a BSc in Geography at the University of Manchester, graduating with a First-class honours degree in 2003.

His research is concerned with how the complexities of individual behaviours, attitudes and contexts manifest spatially, and can be represented and understood though a framework of geographic data science.

His most recent work has focused on developing an understanding how both fast and slow human dynamics can be understood through emerging Geographic Data Science methodologies, and mapping such geographies at fine spatiotemporal scale.

More generally, he has interests in supporting the public understanding of science through online interfaces to data, and is a strong advocate of open source data, software and publishing.