Independent retailing in Great Britain: Dinosaur or chameleon?

Dr Dawson's paper was presented to a recent CESDIT meeting in Milan, and is a summary of the chapter in the CESDIT volume on distribution in Great Britain. It discusses the position of independent retailers today — their dwindling number, with corresponding job losses and diminishing market share, and looks at their positive contribution — as agents encouraging entrepreneurs, as centres for valuable social and community interaction, and asks whether Government intervention should be encouraged to protect them.