About us.
Our mission
for our market.
To support industry partners through periods of change by delivering best-in-class insight products which are accurate, evidence-based and actionable.Our mission
for our business.
To develop the best talent and technology to deliver market-leading data and insights.
A history of the group.
2003
The Local Data Company is founded by brothers Alex and Barnaby Oswald
2008
The company evolves from a data directory to an insights and consultancy business
2012
The field research team expands coverage to every high street, retail park and shopping centre in Britain
2019
LDC makes its first acquisition – Retail Locations, and with it integrates another layer of insight into its database of 700k units
2021
The On Site Research business is acquired which increases the size of the field team to over 250 and introduces new capabilities for in-store data collection into the business.
2022
Edge Analytics is the third acquisition to be made, which enables the business to build out demographic profiling and forecasting capabilities
Today
Edge Analytics is the third acquisition to be made, which enables the business to build out demographic profiling and forecasting capabilities
A Message From LDC Group CEO Barnaby Oswald.
The year 2023 marks the 20th birthday of The Local Data Company. During that time, we have weathered some fairly large events, from the global financial crisis to Brexit, from the pandemic to the subsequent inflation, resulting interest rate hikes and ensuing cost of living crisis… “Resilience” is the word that springs to mind.
I think what has helped us most to stand the test of time is the culture we have spent so much time developing and investing in— the amazing collective of people who bring their all every day, leave their egos at the door, and lean into one shared goal. It makes for the most amazing environment to work in.
Today, we are a team of over 200 people, including over 150 researchers collecting data in the field week in, week out, come rain or shine (literally), visiting tens of thousands of stores every week. It is this painstaking work that is the bedrock of our whole business, enabling us to provide data, insights and strategic support to an ever-expanding range of businesses and sectors— effectively, anyone who is invested in, or exposed to, physical retail in some capacity.
The Group today encompasses three integrated businesses: Local Data Company (places); On-Site Research (pricing); and Edge Analytics (populations)— together, we enable our clients to plan for the future through data-driven strategic decisions.
The thought of the business still going in twenty years feels like an epic challenge we should all rise to!
Our Market.
Reports
Out now: our 2023 Retail and Leisure Trends Analysis Report
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Client Work
Interview with Richard Lambert, Chief Executive, National Hair & Beauty Federation
HOW DO NHBF USE THE DATA FROM LDC?
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Client Work
Rebecca Morter, Founder and CEO of Lone Design Club on digital and physical presence and challenges in the fashion industry
Rebecca Morter is the founder and CEO of Lone Design Club, a disruptive omnichannel retail start-up. Launched in 2018, Lone Design Club offers a ...
Read time: 6 mins
Client Work
David Scott, Head of Consumer Industries, on current trends, challenges and causes for optimism in the retail industry
For the second year in a row, NatWest will host our Retail and Leisure Trends Summit taking place in London this September. As NatWest's Head of ...
Read time: 5 mins
Client Work
Ronald Nyakairu, Head Of Insight & Analytics at LDC, on current retail trends, international brands, and potential challenges for H2 2023.
As LDC's Head of Insight & Analytics, Ronald Nyakairu works with our clients across a wide range of sectors, from retail and property to local ...
Read time: 7 mins
Client Work
Phil Mickler, COO at ME+EM, on the value of omnichannel retail, knowing your customer, and data-led decision-making
Founded in 2009, ME+EM is a direct-to-consumer womenswear brand offering luxury fashion without the luxury price tag. The brand’s core philosophy ...
Read time: 5 mins
Client Work
Eurofund Group's UK CEO, Alberto Esguevillas, on the acquisition of Silverburn and future trends in retail & leisure
Alberto Esguevillas is the UK CEO of Eurofund Group. Operating across Spain, Portugal, the UK and Italy, the group first established themselves as ...
Read time: 6 mins
Client Work
LDC’s Lunch and Learn session with British Land
Recently, we were fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to host a Lunch and Learn session with employees at British Land, where we shared our ...
Read time: 3 mins
Client Work
Richmond and Wandsworth Council: using bespoke data to shape strategy and engagement
Richmond and Wandsworth Council have been working with LDC to inform their Night Time Strategy, and support future applications for funding and ...
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Client Work
British Library: supporting the future of the retail sector with an online insights platform for everyone
As the UK’s national library, and one of the largest in the world, the British Library is an academic and cultural landmark. As well as receiving ...
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Client Work
Savills: Supporting forensic examination of retail locations with micro-level insights
Savills was founded in the UK in 1855. Today, it is an internationally-renowned property agency with offices all over the world. Savills provides a ...
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Reports
Out now: our 2022 GB retail and leisure market analysis
Our latest Local Data Company retail and leisure trends report, covering the GB market over 2022, releases today. Key findings include:
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Webinars
H1 2022 Retail & Leisure Trends: Public Sector
Please complete the below form to access the H1 2022 Retail & Leisure Trends Public Sector presentation. Following the release of our H1 2022 ...
Read time: 1 mins
Events
Profitability, people and the planet: a roundup of LDC's 26th Retail & Leisure Trends Summit
The Local Data Company's 26th Retail & Leisure Trends Summit marked our first in-person event since 2019, hosted in partnership with NatWest at ...
Read time: 2 mins
Reports
Out now: our H1 2022 analysis on the GB retail and leisure market
The latest Local Data Company retail and leisure trends report, covering market activity over the first half of 2022, is out today. Key findings ...
Read time: 2 mins
Client Work
Landsec: Using real-time data to understand the current market and support agile asset strategy
As one of the UK’s leading commercial property development and investment companies, Landsec creates places that make a lasting positive contribution ...
Read time: 3 mins
Client Work
Lambeth Council: Leading the way with an intelligence-based approach to place management and covid recovery
Lambeth Council started working with the Local Data Company in 2020 as part of its focus on an intelligence-based approach to place management as ...
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Data Viz
Five years on the high street: 2016- 2021
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Reports
Out now: LDC's latest analysis on 2021
LDC's latest report is out today and provides an update on the impact of market activity across 2021. Key findings from this report include:
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Webinars
The road to retail recovery: are we there yet? Webinar
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Client Work
Too Good To Go: Understanding the market to inform data-driven strategy for an expanding business
Too Good To Go is a company working to fight food waste. They partner with food businesses across sectors, including restaurants, bakeries and ...
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Data Viz
GB cities most impacted by the 10pm curfew
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Data Viz
GB town recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic
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Data Viz
Mother's Day gifts
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Data Viz
Boozy Britain: the best cities to go out-out
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Data Viz
Retail & leisure trends FY 2019
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Data Viz
Retail & leisure trends H1 2019
For more information on how the market changed over H1 2019, download the full report for free here.
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Data Viz
Do we have too much retail stock?
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Data Viz
How did the physical retail and leisure landscape change over 2018?
*Multiples include all brands with five or more units nationally.
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Data Viz
Retail & leisure trends H1 2018
Last month, we released a report looking at key trends across the retail and leisure landscape for the first six months of this year. For those that ...
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Data Viz
The fashion report- 2018
Last month, we released a report detailing the long-term and short-term trends across the fashion landscape in the UK. For those that didn't have ...
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Data Viz
Retail & leisure trends 2017/2018
"It has been widely acknowledged that UK retail is going through a turbulent period, with consumer fundamentals such as consumer confidence ...
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Data Viz
Supermarkets, discounters and convenience stores 2012-2017
"Across GB the state of the grocery market is one of a changing landscape, with the previously clear divisions between supermarkets, convenience ...
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Data Viz
Retailing in Wales' towns and cities
The latest report by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) and LDC looks at the general health and emerging ...
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Data Viz
Retailing in Scotland's largest towns and cities
The latest report by the Institute for Retail Studies - University of Stirling and LDC looks at the latest retail health and trends across Scotland's ...
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Webinars
24th Retail and Leisure Trends Summit
Our next summit, 'The road to retail recovery: are we there yet?' features our full year 2021 analysis and will take place on Thursday the 17th of ...
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Webinars
Maximise the impact of funding and measurement for councils and BIDs
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Webinars
23rd Retail & Leisure Trends Summit FY 2020
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Webinars
22nd Retail & Leisure Trends Summit H1 2020
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Webinars
Resilience in the retail and leisure market- 2020
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Webinars
Retail & leisure market trends for landlords, investors and commercial agents- FY 2019
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Webinars
Retail & leisure market trends for councils, BIDs and government- FY 2019
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Webinars
Retail & leisure market trends for retail and leisure occupiers and consultants- FY 2019
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Webinars
Retail & Leisure Summit H1 2019
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Client Work
British Land: Using LDC data to support strong and strategic decision making during the COVID-19 pandemic
British Land is one of the UK’s leading property companies. Their mission is to create places people prefer, delivering the best, most sustainable ...
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Client Work
Fable Data: How an alt data provider matches transaction strings to merchants using LDC data
Fable Data is an Alt data provider which uses anonymised transaction data from banks, credit card providers and fintech companies to deliver insight ...
Read time: 2 mins
Reports
LDC's latest report on H1 2021 is available now!
LDC's latest bi-annual report is out today and provides an update on the impact of market activity across the first six months of this year. Key ...
Read time: 2 mins
Reports
Key findings from our retail and leisure analysis on 2020
Our latest report on retail and leisure market trends across 2020 is out now and available to download for free. 2020 was a year like no other, ...
Read time: 2 mins
Reports
LDC's H1 2020 Retail and Leisure market analysis is out now!
Our latest analysis on trends across the first (exceptionally challenging) half of 2020 is out now and available to download for free.
Read time: 1 mins
Reports
First look COVID insight pack out now
After a short hiatus, the Local Data Company field research team returned to the field on the 23rd May and since have been working on a specific ...
Read time: 5 mins
Reports
NEW Report - Resilience in the retail and leisure sector
We have released a report today introducing a brand new metric developed to measure resilience across the retail and leisure market. In this latest ...
Read time: 2 mins
Events
AI in retail, flexitarianism and simplicity driving efficiencies- a roundup of LDC's 18th Retail and Leisure Trends Summit
Last week saw our 18th Retail and Leisure Trends Summit, held at the beautiful BCLP LLP offices at London Bridge. We had some fantastic speakers who ...
Read time: 6 mins
Events
Rethinking the rental model, really knowing your customer and converting space for community services- a roundup of LDC's 19th Retail & Leisure Trends Summit
Last week we held our 19th Retail and Leisure Trends Summit at the BDO offices at Baker Street. The theme for this event was ‘Retail Done ...
Read time: 6 mins
Events
How to reinvent retail and reinvigorate the high street- a roundup of LDC's 20th Retail & Leisure Trends Summit
We were delighted to host the Local Data Company’s 20th Retail & Leisure Trends Summit on 26 September. Once again, the afternoon offered a great ...
Read time: 3 mins
Reports
Latest analysis on the retail and leisure market over H1 2019 is out now!
Today we released a new report which covers retail and leisure market trends across both the independent and multiple market for H1 2019.
Read time: 2 mins
Reports
Our latest analysis on market change over 2018 is out now!
Today we have released our latest report which quantifies all the market change across the physical retail and leisure landscape over 2018. From the ...
Read time: 1 mins