How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic Dissertation

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic climate effectively - Dissertation Example co’s different sections 39 Figure 3: Reason of attraction of customers of Tesco 40 Figure 4: Responses regarding Tesco being the best in price, quality & service 41 Figure 5: Percentages of respondents choosing M&S different sections 42 Figure 6: Reason of attraction of M&S customers 43 Figure 7: Responses regarding M&S being best in price, quality & service 44 Abstract: It has been found that despite the fact that the UK population is only 1% of the population of the globe; the United Kingdom took fourth place in the world trade (Allen, 2010).  Mechanical engineering and transport, manufactured goods and chemicals are the main exports of Great Britain. Starting from the 70's, oil production not only has reduced imports of petroleum products, but also brought substantial gains in trade.  British Petroleum is the largest industrial corporation and the UK ranks second in Europe.  Britain provides 10% of world exports of services - banking, insurance, brokerage, advisory, a s well as in computer programming. Retail sales index characterizes the strength of consumer demand; its growth indicates an increase in the production of goods, strengthening the economy and currency. Published in the 13th day of the month has an impact on the market in the medium and long term.  This indicator is the most informative and does not include the number of cars sold, since this value is very volatile.  There is a seasonal dependence, as described by Craig Emerson (2008). Chapter 1: Introduction: 1.1 Background: The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world.... The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world. Companies face different market circumstances in different phases and they react accordingly, In order to retain their positions in the market, they have to adopt different strategies so that they are able to generate enough revenue. The global downturn during 2008-2009 is one of the worst recessions faced by the world economy. All the developed western countries like US, UK, France etc were badly hit by the global meltdown. Many companies of these developed nations were unable to cope up with the recession despite adopting different strategies and finally went bankrupt or were acquired by other companies. Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, Barnsley Building Society, Alliance & Leicester and Bear Stearns etc to name a few. Generally, a huge number of financial markets are still coping with the effects of financial crisis. Particularly, governments have played a significant role in supporting its financial markets to survive in midst of such financial crisis. In the British economy, retail sector enjoys noteworthy importance due to its contribution in GDP of the country.