BAHBSM2 Retail Location Feasibility Assignment : Letterkenny vs Comparable Town Case Study for Long-Term Investment Analysis

This is a group assignment, but individual marks will be given if the Group request this. If no requests are made by the Group then a common mark will be given to each member of the Group.

Each group should contain 3 students, unless otherwise approved by the module lecturer.

The groups should be formed by the students themselves and communicated to the lecturer via email (stephen.walsh@ncirl.ie) by 23.59 on Saturday 14th June 2025.

Where students haven’t joined a group by the deadline above, the module lecturer will allocate any remaining students to a group.

This assignment accounts for 40% of the overall assessment in this module.

The pass mark for this assignment is 40% but you do not have to pass each of the two components of assessment individually. An overall pass grade is sufficient

A soft copy of the assignment must be submitted online through Moodle by 11.59 p.m. on Monday 30th June 2025.

Penalties will be applied for late submissions as per standard policy.

The maximum word count is 3,000 words (+ 10% additional words tolerance.)

There is no minimum word count but it is unlikely that the assignment could be completed satisfactorily in less than 2,000 words.

The word count above does not include bibliography, diagrams, tables of data etc. It does, however, include tables/grids where text is inserted.

Footnotes/Endnotes are acceptable to elaborate on/explain a point in the text and will not count towards the word count unless, in the judgement of the assessor, they are being used to circumvent the word count limit.

You must show the word count clearly on the front page.

Penalties will be applied for exceeding the word count

The grade will be based on the extent to which the student demonstrates a clear understanding of theoretical principles and their application to real world issues where appropriate.

The grade will be based primarily on quality of analysis rather than descriptive material. Students will be expected to present the paper in a professional manner including:

• Well structured;
• Good development of argument or narrative;
• Good grammar, spelling, syntax, etc.;
• Fully referenced;
• Conclusion based on material presented in paper.

All material, written and otherwise, should be fully referenced.

Material which is taken straight from websites, newspaper or journals articles MUST NOT be included, except tables of statistical data, if relevant.

2. Learning Outcomes

The Assignment addresses Learning Outcomes 1 and 2

LO1: Evaluate and debate critical contemporary economic issues in a rigorous way, using applied concepts and theories

=> Addressed through consideration of macroeconomic forecasts for the Irish economy and the population projections, including age analysis

LO2: Apply economic frameworks and decision-making to specific real-world business cases

=> Addressed through comparison of different locations and the feasibility of undertaking the investment.

3. Problem Statement – Retail Development

You are a team of economic analysts. One of your clients is an international retail chain. The company is considering establishing a sizeable outlet in Ireland, but not in Dublin or any of the other 4 big cities (Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway) or not in a suburb of any of these cities. This is planned as a long-term investment. The marketing department is particularly interested in the possible trends in the pattern of retail sales in Ireland over the next fifteen/twenty years, in the light of the most recent population projections. The chain has not identified a location. It is considering Letterkenny town but wants to examine other possible locations. The scale of the proposed development would require that it be located in a large town, possibly a county town.

You have been asked to prepare a report which identifies a possible location for the retail outlet as an alternative and comparison to Letterkenny town. The alternative location should have a population within +/- 4,000 of Letterkenny (using Census 2022). The report, focusing on both locations, (Letterkenny town and the alternative) should:

1. draw up a list of the criteria that you will apply in evaluating the feasibility of the investment and specifically the two locations. These should be fully explained. The criteria should include macroeconomic variables for the Irish economy. NOTE THIS SECTION SHOULD NOT CONTAIN ANY DATA, IT IS A LIST OF VARIABLES WITH EXPLANATIONS/RATIONALE
2. provide and discuss the macroeconomic forecasts for the Irish economy, as specified in Part a above
3. provide a socio-economic profile of both Letterkenny town and the alternative location. This should include relevant data using the indicators specified in Part a above. This section should include a comparison and discussion of the two locations drawing on the socio-economic profile and also examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the two locations
4. examine the current pattern of retail sales nationally
5. examine the expenditure patterns of Irish households, nationally and regionally (urban versus rural) where possible, updated from published reports to the present where relevant
6. forecast the possible retail sales pattern for the relevant sector(s) based on the population projections, especially the shifting age and other profile of the population and the possible changes in expenditure patterns among households
7. make a recommendation as to the feasibility of the investment and, if feasible, the preferred location.

A short executive summary of the main findings of your analysis should be provided at the start of the report. This is additional to the word limit.

Note: You are NOT expected to identify a particular site, to present information such as rental or property prices or to evaluate competition etc. in the location

4. Assessment

The assessment will be based on the extent to which the learning outcomes outlined above have been achieved. This will include both the group and individual work.

Peer and self-assessment will also be used to inform the grade awarded.

All material, written and otherwise, should be fully referenced. Plagiarism from source material will result in a lower mark. Plagiarism between groups will result in each of the groups concerned receiving a failed mark with no option to repeat. The use of AI is not permitted for final text (but may be used for research and preparation purposes) and if found to have been used for final text will be severely penalised, including the possibility of non-acceptance of the submission.

The pass mark for this project is 40%.

5. Marking Criteria

6. Deliverables:

The main deliverables are;

1. A final report in electronic form. The report should contain up to 3,000 words with a 10% allowance above this limit. All reports must be typed. All detailed tabular material should be included as appendices. An estimate of the word count must be shown on the front cover/front page. Reports with a word count above this limit will receive a lower mark. A penalty of 3 percentage points per calendar day or part of a day will be imposed on each member of the group/individual if the assignment IS submitted after the relevant deadline
   Deadline: 23.59 on Monday 30th June 2025.
2. An optional self and peer assessment form. A full description of this submission will be given later, but it should include details of what contribution each member made to the report. Note that this is not mandatory and the default position is an equal mark for all members of the Group.
   Deadline: 23.59 on Saturday 5th July 2025.

The general regulations concerning coursework in the School will apply.

A bibliography/list of references must be provided at the end of the report. Material which is taken straight from websites, newspaper or journals articles MUST NOT be included, except tables of statistical data, if appropriate

7. References:

The reference material includes, but is not confined to:

• Population Census
• Census Mapping Facility https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022
• National population and labour force projections
• Regional population projections
• Population and Migration Estimates
• Household spending patterns (Household Budget Survey)
• Retail Sales Index
• Agencies/Organisations which provide macroeconomic forecasts

8. Plagiarism

Definition:
There is no single definition of plagiarism.

A useful definition is:

“Plagiarism covers everything from lifting (your whole dissertation/assignment) from the work of somebody to failing to acknowledge a source.”
and
“Plagiarism is unacknowledged copying. …. Even using short passages, or ideas, from other people’s work without specifically acknowledging the source, is plagiarism.”

Identification:
Plagiarism can be identified in a number of ways. Individual assessors, through experience, may spot plagiarism either because they are aware of the material and its source or because of a suspicion sparked by, say, the writing style. It can also be identified and verified by the plagiarism detection software which NCI utilises.

Penalty
The penalty will fit the crime and there will be a scale of penalties, from a marks deduction for a relatively minor breach to a rejection of the assignment for a serious breach. Each case will be judged on its merits. Students will have the right to contest any decision in relation to alleged plagiarism.

Important Note:
Interview: The assessor reserves the right to interview any student(s) on their assignment before determining a mark.