Retail industry figures recently spoke out about the need for the ombudsman, proposed by the Competition Commission to oversee retailers' dealings with suppliers, to have the power to protect suppliers, possibly by allowing them to remain anonymous.

Each year hundreds of millions of pounds are invested in in-store marketing. Industry estimates place in-store spend at around 7%-8% of total marketing budgets, excluding trade-funded promotions (such as money off, bogofs etc.) with growth in excess of 20% YoY (Deloitte). To put this into perspective, cinema marketing represents 1.5%, and radio and internet advertising each account for around 5% of ad spend.

nBritain in the Noughties is, for the middle classes, a very dangerous place to be. But fear not, there is one place in Blighty where old-fashioned decency still reigns supreme, where fairness and customer service rule - and that's Waitrose. Waitrose has replaced Marks 'n' Sparks as the nation's most beloved retailer, particularly with the middle classes in the South of England.

Whitby is a picturesque and historic fishing port on the north Yorkshire coast, and it has proud inhabitants, who value their large town-centre Co-op highly, almost to the point of defensiveness.

Plucky is a word often used to describe the British. British consumers' mettle was tested to the full last summer when the highly improbable weather saw bedraggled barbecuers increasingly 'plucked' off: seemingly every time they sparked up the 'barbie', the heavens opened.

When Environment Minister Phil Woolas earlier this year described drinking bottled water as "almost morally indefensible", he sparked a furious response from an industry that is working hard to underline its green credentials.