Fellowship

Professor Leigh Sparks is Deputy Principal (Education and Students) and Professor of Retail Studies at the University of Stirling. His first degree is in Geography from the University of Cambridge and his PhD is from the University of Wales. His academic career has been spent mostly at the University of Stirling, as well as visiting appointments at Florida State University and the University of Tennessee. He is an internationally leading researcher in aspects of spatial-structural change in retailing. Externally, Leigh is Board Chair of Scotland’s Towns Partnership (2013-date). During 2020, Leigh was a member of the Scottish Government’s Social Renewal Advisory Board and Chaired the Review of the Town Centre Action Plan for the Scottish Government, the report from which (A New Future for Scotland’s Towns) was published in February 2021. He was a workstream leader in developing the Scottish Government’s Retail Strategy (published 2022). He is currently on the Expert Advisory Group examining the economic effects of Minimum Unit Pricing of alcohol and on the Board for the Scottish Grocers Federation/Scotland Food & Drink/Scottish Government “Go Local” project. Leigh runs a blog on retail matters (Stirlingretail.com).