Recession and social change (Slides and Video)

James Walton, Chief Economist with IGD, talks to the National Retail Consumer Conference 2012 about the implications for co-operative organisations of the current financial downturn.

James gave us a picture of the current state of the UK economy and where it might be going. This picture wasn’t always comforting – James spoke in terms of Civil War, the rolling back of women’s economic and social position and the disappearance of the usual safe havens – but there was still some hope for the co-operative sector: he saw small, urban supermarkets as a key growth area, and the sector as ideally placed to capitalise on them.