The Structure of European Industry is a collection of essays on the economic organization of industrial sectors in Europe, which may serve either of policy makers in business and in Government; and staff and students at Universities. The first group increasingly needs a focus on the longer-term developments of European industry, now that the positive (growth) effects of the economic integration of the sixties have worn off. Restructuring is the current catch word and nobody can deny the necessity and urgency of the task. But it has become a day-to-day affair and there may be a loss of perspective. The second group is growing up in an international environment and should be equipped accordingly. Many-faceted tasks are involved with serving either depending on the problems which differ according to industries. And here the bewildering complexity of the European industrial scenery strikes. Some of these industries are old fashioned; some are new; some are national in orientation; some have become integrated; some have a competitive structure; some are cartellized or heavily concentrated; some have been interfered with by national Governments, others were free from such policing; etc. Moreover, a number of industries show various combinations of these and other facets at the same time.

First Published in 1996. The authors define retail structure in a retail distribution context as a snapshot of the state of play in the competitive struggle between retail companies and businesses, each of which is seeking to not only survive but to grow. The studies in this volume were first published in The Service Industries Journal. Taken as a whole they serve two purposes: first, they introduce the concept and process of retail structure taken from the viewpoint of a continuing competitive struggle for market supremacy; and second, they serve as an introduction to the wider study of retail development.

This volume deals with the diverse range of industries concerned with the supply and processing of food in the UK. It covers sources relating to food production and processing, including foodstuffs supplied from abroad, and also fish supply and processing.