ABSTRACT
From the mid-nineteenth century until the early 1950s the development of the retail sector in Britain was marked by steady evolutionary change centred on the expansion of multiple trading. But since the Second World War, radical changes in the retail environment have led to the emergence of new forms of retail operation which denote a distinct break with the past. This article traces corresponding changes in the leadership of some of the largest firms in the sector, and suggests that these changes have played an important part in the post-war transformation of British retailing.
