Distributing a product

Evolution of the sector

Organizations in the retail sector

British Retail Consortium

Types of outlet

Department stores

Clothing, cosmetics, jewellery, food
Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, House of Fraser, Selfridges, Harrod's

Supermarkets and hypermarkets

Food supermarkets and specialized department stores – Some opened 24/7 Monday morning to Sunday 4pm.
Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose

Convenience stores

General food, drink and everyday products
Budgens, Tesco Metro/Express, Sainsbury Local.

Discount stores

Miscellaneous goods offered at an attractive price (opportunistic purchases)
Aldi, Netto.

Home centres

Gardening, decoration, products for the home
B&Q, Homebase, Do it all DIY, Currys.

Cooperatives

General food and everyday items, plus pharmacy, travel, financial services, funeral services etc.
The Co-operative Society

Drug stores

Cosmetics, toiletries, pharamaceuticals
Boots

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Organizing goods transport

Main useful means of transport

97% of the British external trade volume is handled by sea transport: it consists in about 600 million tons a year. There are hundreds of ports well-equipped for goods transportation. The most important are London, Plymouth, Southampton, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Felixstowe and Dover. England, Scotland, and Wales hold more than 80 ports as members in the British Ports Association, whose aim is to represent and protect its members from the market turmoil and to integrate European and international policies. The domestic connections are regularly ensured by domestic companies like British Midlands, Air UK / KLM, Easyjet and British Airways.

Roads are dense and effective. United Kingdom is a powerful market of the European road transport and since the market was liberalised on the European level, this sector has undergone strong upheavals. The government, through the Department of Transport, has called on the private sector to finance the creation, financing and construction of new roads, and a toll-system on highways will be the next step.

Various plans of improvement of the railway infrastructure such as the modernisation of tracks in West Midlands, a high speed connection between South and North as well as a project joining the East and the West are under study.

Since December 1994, Great Britain has been connected with the European continent by the Channel, exploited by Eurotunnel company and the train Eurostar (Eurotunnel). An overview of the British rail system can be found on Rail.co.uk.

Ports

Heathrow International Airport
British Ports Association
Port of London
UK Rail
Eurostar
The tube

Airports

Heathrow International Airport

Sea transport organizations

Air transport organizations

British Airports Authority (BAA)

Road transport organizations

Rail transport organizations

UK Rail
Department of transport