With thousands of shops closing in Britain today, this is the story of a man who made a living by helping retailers open their places of work. Roger Cox was a pioneer in shop siting and development in this country. But when he realised that there were too many of them, he switched his career. He became a freelance lecturer with the aim of showing that practical skills, allied with business theory, was the key to a students’ career success. In his book, Roger tells of his experiences in both retail firms and colleges, many of them comical and thought-provoking. Alongside this, the main family pastime has been world-wide travel, much of it in America. Above all, this is an entertaining read.

Table of Contents:
1 BRUM Family life in war-torn Birmingham – just as busy as in normal times; a small boy at school, and a father who combined design engineering with church ministry and air-raid warden. A move to Scotland. 1 2 BONNIE DUNDEE The shock of Scottish culture; four house moves and four churches in the city. A deviant path for my studies 6 3 AULD REEKIE Another move to the capital, and a puzzle on my father’s motivation; a school provides an improved career outlook for me; yet another move to Greater Manchester. 11 4 NO MEAN CITY My move to Glasgow to study; I found and edit a student magazine, becoming involved with an international student charity; meet with lifelong character friends. 19 5 NATIONAL SERVICE From Aldershot to West Germany; life at a NATO HQ; organising an Anglo-German Club; should the EU have its own army? Leisure travel around Europe. 26 6 SIXTIES LONDON Break-out to the British capital, and the start of my first career; flat-life in Marylebone; meeting my wife and marriage, then moving to the suburbs; back to Edinburgh with one child. 34 7 OISTREHAM Return to Kent with two children, and to my present house; re-meeting old friends, to my wife’s relief; at last, a girl child; the family obsession with worldwide travel. 50 8 RETAILING My experiences with Littlewoods as a trainee manager; the start of a retail marketing career with NCR; further experience with J. Sainsbury, British Bakeries, John Menzies, Allied Shoe and a retail Philips’ subsidiary; financial training as a city retail securities analyst; the realisation that I needed a career change; the future of retailing. 91 9 TEACHING A move into the Higher Education sector with Holborn College, CMMS, LSFT, Schiller International University, London Metropolitan University, The Open University, Greenwich School of Management, Western International University, South Bank University and other assorted universities, colleges and “crammers”; the future of HE. 117 10 CONSULTANCY Setting up and running a conference business; training supermarket managers for Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, the Co-op and many others through the IGD; freelance management consulting and research; TV and radio broadcasting; guest speaking at retail sector conferences. 140 11 WRITING How I learned, through doing and applying skills and knowledge, to write six books; experiences with publishers, agents and other authors. 154 12 MUSINGS Further job searches; getting in and out of debt; coping with retirement; personal reflections on my life and on the many people I have met. 162 ILLUSTRATIONS – The Rev B.A. Cox, Mary, David, Winifred Cox/ Roger (left) in BAOR/ Liz/ Steph/ Simon, Roger, James/ Roger in WADS farce. 45–49 APPENDIX Quiz and answers. References. 199