SYMBOLS OF SUCCESS

Demography
Most of these people have worthwhile professional or technical qualifications, and are now well set in their careers. Their incomes have now risen deep into upper income tax ranges. Some work for large corporations in senior management positions, some now command respected roles in professional practices. Others own successful enterprises that they have built up with their own commercial acumen.

Mostly these people are now seeing the fruits of previous years of hard work and long hours, though that does not necessarily mean that they are taking life easier now they are entering middle or later middle age. However they have reached a phase in their lives in which enjoyment of consumption and of leisure time are now more evenly balanced with the demands of work. People will by now, for example, have been able to afford to move to a more prestigious area of town, to a bigger house set in leafier gardens and perhaps more individual in its design.

Children are now likely to be less burdensome in terms of time but more expensive in their leisure interests, and independent in their lifestyles. Some will have to be regularly ferried to private schools, to be collected at the airport from foreign trips, to be equipped with the wherewithal for riding lessons or sailing trips and to be funded for their years at university.

These therefore are people with busy and complex family lives, who require heavy support from gardeners, cleaners, builders and decorators to enjoy the fruits of past and current labours. Though these are mostly white British neighbourhoods, they are likely to contain significant Jewish, European, Chinese and Indian minorities.

Environment
Neighbourhoods of Symbols of Success are typically areas of choice housing, whether fashionable inner city neighbourhoods such as Kensington or the New Town area of Edinburgh, or prestige outer suburbs. These neighbourhoods are typically well established rather than new. Houses are well built and spacious, with four or more bedrooms, and very often built to individual designs at low densities, and in places far away from major roads or centres of commercial or industrial employment. Though in inner cities they may take the form of town houses or even luxury flats, most will be in the form of detached, single family dwellings set in gardens or even grounds. These are well stocked with shrubs and flowering trees and in certain instances shaded by quite mature trees. All this vegetation provides privacy to rear gardens and to front windows. Plots are usually large enough for cars to be parked off the street in dedicated driveways as well as garages, increasing numbers of which are electronically operated.

Economy
Symbols of Success is found concentrated in the economically more successful regions of the country, particularly in London and the South East of England, where a high proportion of the workforce is engaged in what are loosely known as 'knowledge' industries. These people are particularly likely to work in professional jobs, which by their nature are concentrated in the big cities, such as lawyers, surgeons, university professors, consultants or senior civil servants. Others cluster around those parts of the country that have been successful in attracting high technology companies, such as the M3/M4 corridor, or where prestige universities have attracted important research and development centres. The importance of London and Edinburgh as centres of employment in financial services and government is also reflected in the high concentrations of this type of neighbourhood in these cities. By contrast, Symbols of Success are not likely to be found in the deep countryside or in small manufacturing towns.

Consumer Values
Symbols of Success typically consists of people who, having achieved a measure of success in some aspects of their lives, have moved beyond a need to impress others by the nature of things that they own. Status among these people is established in more subtle ways, by the values associated with the brand rather than by the product category, and by the manner in which the product is accessed and consumed. The air of discretion and understatement, that is associated with traditional premium brands, appeals to a greater extent than flamboyance and conspicuous styles of consumption associated with the nouveau riche.

Money
These are likely to be people who have accumulated substantial equity in some form or other and to have a high 'net worth'. Assets might be held in the form of equity in high value properties, in stocks and shares, in pension schemes or in the form of illiquid assets such as business enterprises. Many of these people will also be at a stage in life where they are inheriting estates from deceased parents. Loans on houses are now often low in relation to their value and there is little need for credit to finance any but the largest purchases. Deciding how to invest rapidly accumulating wealth is a source of considerable interest to this Group.

Consumption Patterns
Symbols of Success spends a lot of money both on premium brands within frequently consumed product categories and on specialist forms of consumption. Thus in terms of media they are likely to be too busy to watch much television but anxious to keep in touch with current trends by reading the financial, arts and property sections of the major broadsheets as well as subscribing to magazines such as The Economist and Time. Clothes are likely to be bought from department stores and from specialist independents operating from heritage locations, rather than from major high street multiples. Their garages are likely to contain Mercedes and BMWs sometimes as convertibles and 4x4s. Supermarket trolleys are particularly likely to contain fresh fruit and vegetables, items from the delicatessen and the fresh meat and fresh fish counters. Many more shopping trips are likely to be made to specialist independent shops, whether for clothes, new kitchens of bathrooms, for wallpapers and floor coverings and for holidays, at outlets which provide a specialist range of merchandise and where more knowledgeable staff take a greater interest in matching the available offerings to the needs of individual customers.

Leisure is likely to be undertaken according to the preferences of individual family members. The husband may go to the golf club on his own. The parents may visit the theatre leaving the children behind at home. The children may go off to their own camps during the summer holidays. The wife may enjoy a visit to a spa during the day. Holidays are unlikely to be purchased from the brochures of the major travel companies but to involve self catering at owned or rented villas, skiing, boating or independent foreign travel.

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS

Summary
Global Connections contains extremely expensive housing, mostly in central London, occupied by rich people from abroad and by childless older people on extremely high incomes.

Demography
This Type contains many very wealthy people who, for one reason of another, want to live as close as possible to the centre of a global city. Many of them are wealthy foreigners who find it convenient to have a London pied-á-terre, others are managers with international corporations on temporary assignment to the United Kingdom. Some are very wealthy British people who enjoy proximity to the variety of restaurants and entertainment opportunities available in London's West End. Some are people involved in the cultural agenda of the nation, whose working lifestyles make a central London residence a necessity. An increasing proportion of the population are older divorcees who have exchanged expensive suburban houses for smaller central London flats.

The consistent feature of most of these people is that they have access to serious amounts of money and that they do not need to cater for the needs of children. Mixed in among this wealthy elite is a scattering of lower income people, the porters and cleaners who service their apartments, and some well off younger singles supported by rich parents. Despite the young profile of the population this is an inner city community that continues to support a significant population of well off older people, most of whom lease purpose built apartments in prestige blocks. The ambience is particularly international. News stands sell foreign editions of papers from around the globe to large resident populations of Arabs, Americans and people from other Western European countries, many of whom live in their own favoured enclaves, often as a result of the location of expatriate schools. Whereas these neighbourhoods contain significant Jewish communities, there are fewer members of more recently arrived minority groups than in other parts of London. Despite their high incomes the majority of the population are content to live in rented flats. They work locally in commercial rather than public sector occupations, and in service industries, particularly in banking and in commerce, rather than in manufacturing.

Many directors of large companies live in these areas which provide convenient access to corporate headquarters, but there is also a significant number of people who are self-employed. The prestige nature of these locations leads to a perverse position on indicators of social deprivation commonly used by government. Not only are these areas ones where comparatively few people own a car ­ people use taxis instead ­ but levels of household overcrowding and of shared access to bathrooms and toilets is also well above the national average ­ reflecting the minority population of affluent young couples sharing studio apartments.

Environment
Global Connections is most common in central London locations such as Kensington and Chelsea, Notting Hill, St Johns Wood and Hampstead, which were favoured by the Georgian and Victorian merchant classes. Typically they live in mid rise apartment blocks that are more common in continental European cities than in Britain, where a guarded entrance hallway with plants and comfortable chairs gives way to lifts, which take the wealthiest to penthouses and those of more modest means to second to fourth floor flats. Most of the accommodation is in older properties some of which were purpose built, and sold originally on long-term leases by large estate owners, but much is in prestigious old houses, many with basements for their original owners' servants and steps leading up to an impressive entrance. These have been tastefully converted into small studios whose owners are contacted through a battery of separate doorbells and entry phones. In the more central locations, apartments are set directly off the street, elsewhere set back behind the iron railings that protect the basement. Some surround small parks to which owners have communal access. In each case the apartments are arranged to give the appearance of a terraced street. In areas further from the centre of London some of these flats stand in their own grounds.

These neighbourhoods, examples of which can be found in Notting Hill and West Hampstead, take the form of high density two storey terraced houses shared by high earning singles. These residential areas quickly give way to major arterial thoroughfares on whose busy pavements smart restaurants jostle with designer clothes shops, sellers of expensive kitchens and other home improvement services, antique shops and the ubiquitous foreign news stands. These are areas where it is easy to find a taxi and where buses and tubes deliver access to the West End in fewer than thirty minutes.

Economy
Global Connections is highly dependent on the global economy and is affected more by fluctuations in financial share prices than by changes in mortgage interest rates. As secure havens and pied-á-terres for international jet sets, they can also be affected by changes in the currency exchange rate and by incidents of international terrorism.

Consumer Values
Global Connections places particularly high value on personalisation. These are individuals who demand to be treated as such, whether in restaurants where their tables are booked in advance and where they are greeted by name, in the banks who will enrol them in sections responsible for personal banking and on airlines where they are pampered in first class seats. Clothes are personally tailored rather than bought off the peg. Whilst premium and designer brands are important to these people, many of their products are custom made to personal specifications. Successful brands are ones which adopt an international as well as an exclusive position in their market.

Consumption Patterns
Global Connections, on account of its extreme wealth and busy lifestyle, 'outsources' many consumer activities that it would not occur to most people not to do themselves. People eat at restaurants rather than cook at home, are driven in the back of taxis when others would drive themselves, cleaners come to clean their homes and specialist launderers maintain their clothes. These are not people whose finger nails get dirty in the garden or whose closets contain worn out garments reserved for the occasional home improvement project. Much money is spent on interior decoration and refurbishment, on eating out and on foreign travel. These people also spend highly on theatres and the arts. Despite the congestion of surrounding streets these are good locations to see top of the range cars, particularly custom sports designs. Unsurprisingly, Harrods is an important institution for many of these people.

Change
Neighbourhoods of Global Connections have grown rapidly in recent years, resulting in the colonisation of newly fashionable areas such as Notting Hill. London's growing role as a global city, not just as a national capital, will make these areas even more prestigious in future years, subject to the good health of the international business system.

Culture and Consumer Psychology
These people represent the archetypal affluent, cosmopolitan sophisticates, who can be found in most capital cities throughout Europe and the World. In the UK, they are usually found in London, but they do exist in all large cities, and there is a notable presence of this Type in the major cities of Scotland. Their economic position, their values and their behaviours cross national boundaries, as they often do themselves in both their work and leisure lives. Many have top positions in business or the professions, and a significant proportion are self-employed, most probably through lucrative contract work. Such employment requires frequent international travel as do their leisure interests, which are often high-involvement, active pursuits such as skiing and sailing, They take many foreign holidays.

These are typically middle-aged people, and few have the responsibilities of children or immediate family. Most are single and live the hedonistic lifestyle of the very wealthy, who work hard, but who have few financial commitments beyond their own interests and their own self-image. These are autonomous people. Their extensive prosperity allows them to be cushioned from the domestic routines that are chores for most households ­ chores such as shopping, cooking, cleaning and ironing. Most grocery shopping will be done at the nearest high street supermarket that offers a choice of the more esoteric items and the more exclusive brands, and shopping is less likely to be for basic foodstuffs. Sensitivity to self-development means that a vegetarian diet and work-outs at the private gym will feature in the lives of many, but the incidence of smoking and drinking is also quite high, and this incongruity will reflect the desire to live life to the full. Shopping for designer clothes and for expensive, high-tech products will be significant. As for cars, these are likely to be top of the range 'executive' models from Audi, BMW, Saab and Volvo ­ cars which represent individualism. However, many will dispense with the hassles of owning a car in congested urban areas, and will prefer to use taxis and, where necessary, public transport. Work and leisure facilities are nearby. The absence of garages also means that these more exotic cars are parked on the street or in private parking areas.

The fact that they live in well-maintained, privately rented flats with no gardens, partly explains the absence of activities such as DIY and gardening, but a lack of interest is also be a major factor. Less active leisure interests include the arts, cinema and theatre, classical music, gourmet food and fine wines. They also have a marked preference for the more expensive single malt whisky brands. Thus, the hedonism revolves around a very refined portfolio of interests, activities and resulting buying behaviour. The lifestyle of these people may be flamboyant but any vanity is subtle, and is rarely a parade of economic and social status. They are 'inner directed' and do not seek the approval of others.

These people are prosperous, self-confident, optimistic, well-educated, well-informed and 'cultured' in the broadest sense. They are driven by performance and the need to achieve. They welcome change and have no fear of risk. They define themselves according to the choices they make, and less by affiliations to family, community, religion and the other conventional reference points. They consume conspicuously, but this is not a result of any need for approval. They are a tribe which is global and which has done well from its own abilities and from the economic transformations of the last 20 years.

These people represent the aspirational group of many others, in that they have 'made it'. They have all the glittering prizes of contemporary, wealthy urban life.

CULTURAL LEADERSHIP

Summary
Cultural Leadership contains very well educated professionals, many of whom work in the liberal professions, government or the arts, who mostly live in very expensive middle ring London suburbs.

Demography
Cultural Leadership contains people, many of whom have degrees in the arts or the social sciences, whose job it is to exercise judgement in areas to do with policy, taste and the arts. Many of them have very specialist professional competences which require them to live within easy reach of central London workplaces, but which also provide the earning power to purchase expensive family houses or more modern town flats in some of London's choicest middle ring suburbs - places such as Richmond, Ealing, Hampstead Garden Suburb, Highgate, Dulwich and Blackheath. People in this Type are less likely to be operational managers than to be employed in the law, the media, medicine and investment banking and a particularly high proportion of women are employed in professional jobs. These are people who, on account of their detailed professional knowledge and experience, populate the advisory committees that are called to make recommendations to governments and others on matters of policy and direction. The areas in which these people tend to live originally contained large old houses whose spacious rooms had high ceilings and interesting architectural details. Due to high land prices some of these houses have been torn down and replaced with small developments of town houses and flats, often dating from the 1960s and 1970s. Today the population of middle aged affluent families in the larger houses is balanced by a more diverse population of younger singles and co-habitees and a number of older residents who appreciate the fine amenities of these prestige neighbourhoods. The result is an age distribution that is not untypical of the nation as a whole, though with an over-representation of the very elderly, many of whom will be living in the nursing homes that have taken over many of the largest houses.

Environment
The better off families in these areas are attracted to the rapid tube and rail access to professional jobs in central London and to the leafy environment for which these suburbs are famed, many of them describing themselves as 'villages'. This is not without justification for that is what they originally were, many centuries ago. The survival of original village architecture and shops in places such as Dulwich and Highgate persuades these wealthy newcomers that they really do live in a socially mixed community. In practice the plethora of independent schools, that achieve impressive positions in national league tables of exam results, drives local house prices to levels that only very high earners can afford. The heterogeneous nature of these areas is enhanced by significant populations from foreign countries, Jewish refugees from central Europe, people from other European countries who have emigrated permanently to Britain, successful Indians and Asians and lower income minorities who run the local shops or who live in the small local pockets of social housing close by.

Neighbourhoods of Cultural Leadership often date from medieval periods but saw rapid expansion in the first quarter of the last century when former merchants' country estates gave way to suburban developments for the new middle classes. Unlike the areas of the inter war housing boom, these areas were typically developed at a much slower rate, as and when estate owners could be persuaded to sell. The new housing took many forms. In suburbs such as Dulwich and Muswell Hill these neighbourhoods consist of very large terraced houses, often double fronted. In Hampstead Garden Suburb, which was not developed until the 1920s, houses were built in short rows according to more countrified designs. In Ealing and Richmond many of these houses are semi-detached. In Highgate there are 'linked' terraced houses, with both visitor's and tradesmen's entrances facing the street. In most of these types of building there is extensive decorative detailing, both internal and external, and aesthetes can enjoy a lifetime restoring these houses to their original condition. The relatively high density provides a more convivial atmosphere and in many of these areas the environment is vigorously defended by active amenity societies that campaign effectively to frustrate even small-scale re-development. Gardens are generally small and many are designer landscaped to afford pleasant patios for entertainment and sunny terraces for reading the Sunday supplements. The tree lined streets provide ready access to valued and extensive areas of public open space.

Economy
Cultural Leadership is resilient to changes in the broader economy and, in recent years, have benefited considerably from the growth of house prices not just in London but also in regional centres such as Oxford and Cambridge, Bath and Bristol that have many neighbourhoods of this Type. Most people work in professions that tend to be insulated from the economic cycle and unemployment rates are low. A high proportion of the population run their own small businesses, often in design and advisory functions such as architecture and public relations, and many are directors or hold senior positions in professional partnerships.

Consumer Values
Cultural Leadership contains people who, in their working lives, need to keep themselves well informed and to exercise sound and rational judgements. Their approach as consumers is little different. This Type exercises choice in consumer markets in an almost professional manner, researching the relative merits of different options via magazines and the Internet. Highly sensitive to lifestyle nuances Cultural Leadership attaches great importance to brand positions and mostly prefers authenticity and understatement to the more brash manifestations of conspicuous consumption. New consumer concerns, such as dietary ingredients, the side effects of pharmaceuticals or the international impact of corporate behaviour, are likely to register here first, not least on account of the large numbers of journalists in this Type.

Consumption Patterns
Cultural Leadership has disposable income levels that allow them to be major spenders in a large number of markets. These people are a very good market for gourmet food products and wines, and are often enthusiastic recreational cooks, in what are often particularly well appointed kitchens. They spend much money on home furnishings where their tastes are for rich colours and authentic ethnic designs. They read a large amount of magazines and very often, not least on account of their work, read more than one newspaper each day. Bookshelves are heavy. Although they watch television infrequently they spend heavily on home entertainment systems and frequently go to films and theatrical productions which were reviewed in listings magazines. Though many drive upmarket marques, car ownership levels are relative low for areas of such affluence and annual mileage rates are low. However these people take regular foreign holidays, often to destinations off the beaten track and enjoy authentic continental cuisine, in particular local wines whilst holidaying in Tuscany or rural French hideaways.

Change
Active amenity groups protect these neighbourhoods from any but the most marginal of new developments and local estate agents are practiced in talking up the capital appreciation opportunities of buying into neighbouring streets to the large number of prospective purchasers who would like to live in these neighbourhoods but can't quite afford to do so.

Culture and Consumer Psychology
These people are primarily well-to-do professionals, living in traditional family units which are located in the exclusive suburbs of London and large provincial cities. They are an elite type in terms of their income and wealth, their employment, their social position, their security and also their influence. Very often, both men and women in this Type are powerful decision makers and opinion leaders in the private sector, but particularly so in public service. These people are assured, secure and very discriminating. They spend their abundant wealth very carefully. While they are very engaged in their careers, their interests and their social lives, they also value the privacy of their homes and home life, which provides a major pillar in their lives. In addition to the family home, they may well have a second home, and this may be a Mediterranean villa or an Alpine chalet.

As with all other wealthy urbanites, they travel frequently for both business and leisure, but they are not as globally transient as some, living more conventional existences rooted in the UK. At least to some extent, this is a result of most households comprising a traditional family unit, with extended family networks and other ties. However, while the traditional family unit dominates, routine domestic concerns are not that significant given their commitments to career, to their social milieu and to their ability to employ help when required. Various religions are important in the lives of many, and this probably reflects a more general tendency towards orthodox values.

These people are educated to a high standard, and they are very discerning and cultured in their tastes, interests and behaviours. They are alert, well informed and principled. A quest for authenticity will be very marked amongst these people. In addition to keen interests in art, the theatre, classical music and gourmet food, they read extensively. Being highly fastidious, they do not watch a great deal of TV and when they do, news programmes, documentaries and classic drama are preferred to the more popular programmes. They have little interest in the brasher aspects of contemporary consumer culture, but do spend large sums on goods and services which they perceive as having an understated, classic value. An aesthetic sensibility characterises their consumption and acquisition. They do not boast or parade their wealth or their lives. Although traditional in many respects, they are willing adopters of new innovations which they deem to be worthwhile, and which have little by way of actual or perceived ostentation. In this way, while the presence of family requires conventional shopping in up-market supermarkets such as Waitrose and Sainsbury's, they also make considerable use of the Internet in general, and for shopping in particular. They are conscientious people who act as well as voice their beliefs. Specific examples of this would be their readiness to support worthy causes, an active interest in environmental or 'socially responsible' concerns such as recycling, and at the personal level, careful attention to diet and to regular exercise such as hiking, tennis and, sometimes, through more esoteric active recreation. However, they are more likely to be immediate followers of new cultural trends rather than initiators, and a certain reserve may characterise the social responses of many. Car ownership is high, but not as high as might be expected given their wealth. In many cases, this will be a result of a preference for public transport or for taxis in congested urban areas. The main car is most likely a prestigious marque such as Saab, Audi, Volvo or BMW.

These people have lives that revolve around career and family. They are big spenders, but they are not ostentatious and in many cases would probably reject contemporary consumer culture.

URBAN INTELLIGENCE

Summary
Urban Intelligence mostly contains young and well educated people who are open to new ideas and influences. Young and single, and few encumbered with children, these people tend to be avid explorers of new ideas and fashions, cosmopolitan in their tastes and liberal in their social attitudes. Whilst eager consumers of the media and with a sophisticated understanding of brand values, they like to be treated as individuals, and value authenticity over veneer.

Demography
Education is important to Urban Intelligence. Many are still in further education, while others are making the transition from full time student to full time worker. Many in full time employment are eager to further develop their level of 'human capital'. This is a culture in which work involves intellectual rather than merely inter-personal or manual competences.

While most may enjoy casual or transitory relationships, they do not feel ready to make permanent commitments, whether to important 'others', to professions or to specific employers. For this reason, many prefer to occupy themselves with a mix of study and part time work, and to live in rented flats which they often share with people in similar circumstances. This flux creates neighbourhoods that are highly transient, resulting in a level of mobility that makes it difficult for older established residents to sustain the networks that give identity to the community. The older people then tend to leave, abandoning their old neighbourhoods to the young. The resulting anonymity and lack of cohesion contributes to increases in the levels of petty crime which then renders the neighbourhoods unsuitable for families, other than those with very young children, further reinforcing the dominance of young singles. The internationalisation of higher education has also resulted in Urban Intelligence acquiring significant numbers of foreign born residents. This contributes to a cosmopolitan atmosphere that further encourages ethnic and cultural variety. Many of the partnerships in these areas are between people of different ethnic groups.

Environment
Neighbourhoods of Urban Intelligence occur mostly in inner London and in the inner areas of large provincial cities, especially those with popular universities. Whilst the nucleus of the student population initially lived in halls of residence, the growth in student numbers has led to a dispersion of students into older working class communities as well as into the areas of large old Victorian houses, which often surround the older universities. Extending beyond these immediate environs are other attractive inner city areas that are now taken over by recent graduates and by young professionals who want to live close to their work and to the restaurants and entertainment facilities of the inner city. Increasingly, with demand for flats outstripping supply, developers are now building smart new flats as well as refurbishing older houses, particular in locations close to old canals and docklands. In London the pressure of demand from young professionals and childless couples extends into previously lower middle class suburbs such as Wandsworth and Hammersmith resulting in the extensive purchase and restoration of the more decorative older terraces. Outside London the needs of this Group are met by new 'dinky' developments of town houses and small flats, often on brownfield sites, catering for the demand for accommodation which is new but which is designed for the needs of people without children. A common feature of all these types of Urban Intelligence neighbourhoods is the plentiful supply of places to eat and drink.

Economy
Urban Intelligence neighbourhoods are very dependent on knowledge work, particularly in government, the media, research and consultancy, marketing and information technology. Not needing space other than to accommodate intelligent brains, employers of such expertise find it convenient to establish themselves in city centres or near city centre locations that provide good access to potential customers. Universities and the human capital that they create thereby become a source of economic regeneration for many city centre and inner city locations.

Consumer Values
Urban Intelligence is the most liberal group in terms of their values, the most catholic in their tastes and the most international in their orientation. Although highly aware of the values associated with different brands, and particularly the brands that they choose, many people are at the same time hostile to artifice and manipulation and attach a high importance to personalisation and authenticity. In general this population is particularly supportive of businesses whose priorities involve environmental sustainability and the avoidance of cultural imperialism.

Money
Particularly under current government funding arrangements, many students and recent graduates expect to start their careers burdened by debt. Discovering how to use financial products, how to survive on a budget and how to manage debt is therefore a concern for many in this Group. On the other hand there is an increasing population of young professionals living in these neighbourhoods who are earning significantly more than they can easily manage to spend. Mindful of career uncertainties these more affluent populations have become an interesting market for various forms of high risk investment whether in short term trading or in the buy to let market. The presence of overseas students and of ethnic minority groups can make the international transmission of money an important financial need in certain localities.

Consumption Patterns
Being well educated, Urban Intelligence is a group who are enthusiastic consumers of all forms of media, in particularly the broadsheet press, current affairs and environment magazines, foreign newspapers and the Internet. These people are particularly interested in issues based content and in news rather than in entertainment and celebrity gossip. People spend much time in bookshops. The less well off pay little attention to fashion, dressing informally in denim and T-shirts, though the better off are very often leaders in fashion, applying designer criteria not just to clothing but to accessories such as glasses and haircuts and creating an urban style of their own which spills over into exclusive restaurants and bars.

While students at the lower, younger end of this Group own any cheap car, those at the higher end of the Group can often be seen driving luxury German and Swedish, as well as conspicuously individualistic, sports cars.

Tastes in food are experimental, with parties of students or young professionals frequenting restaurants offering the most exotic of cuisines, in preference to traditional English food. People are very aware of the relationship between food and health, which results in a demand at grocery stores for fat free and organic products, as well as vegetarian alternatives to mainstream products. Small household sizes and small kitchens results in smaller and more frequent shopping trips and the purchase of products in smaller pack sizes than in areas of Happy Families. In London, in particular, the older and better off members of this Group can display very considerable interest in shopping at very specialist stores, which offer a particularly high standard in specific areas such as fish, cheese, fruit or wine. The leisure focus of this Group is particularly oriented towards the arts and entertainment, with large numbers visiting the cinema, attending plays and concerts or visiting exhibitions. Travel agents do particularly good business in these neighbourhoods, especially in summer months.

COUNTER CULTURE MIX

Summary
Counter Cultural Mix comprises a mixture of young professionals in rented flats, ethnic minorities sharing large old houses and poor tenants in council flats, that characterises many of the less well off areas surrounding the centre of London.

Demography
Counter Cultural Mix is a mix of young urban professionals, many with left wing sympathies, people of Caribbean and Bangladeshi origin, recently arrived Hispanics and a residual population of old people often living in small pockets of housing association or council owned accommodation.

Counter Cultural Mix is found mostly in inner London neighbourhoods, which since 1945 have been vacated by craft manual workers, many of whom have moved out to the new towns, but which have not experienced the gentrification that has occurred in areas of New Urban Colonists.

Most of the population live in flats rather than houses, which they rent rather than own. The working population is polarised between those with good qualifications who work in local public sector jobs or in the service industries of central London, and people in comparatively less well paid jobs - bus drivers, nurses, cleaners, janitors and car park attendants - who support the central London service economy.

This is mostly a young and mobile population of people in their twenties and early thirties who either live on their own, enjoy transient partnerships or belong to the gay community. These inner city locations are attractive because they allow people to live according to their own preferred lifestyles, untroubled by any specific expectations of the local community. Despite the run down nature of many of these neighbourhoods, the population is thoughtful and well educated. Many of the better educated singles who live in these areas do so out of choice, preferring the opportunity to live among diverse communities many of whose members share their distaste for the more extreme manifestations of materialism associated with outer suburbs. Some of them are directly involved in caring for people in poorer communities, whether as social workers or teachers, others campaign and lobby for the disadvantaged through political pressure groups. The ethnic minorities who live in these neighbourhoods are ones who prefer the diversity of lifestyles of traditional inner city neighbourhoods to the more aspirational atmosphere, with its focus on family living and material advancement, more typical of successful areas of Settled Minorities. Few have children but those parents that do live in these neighbourhoods often move out to suburban locations once their children reach school age or are joined by younger siblings.

Environment
Neighbourhoods of Counter Cultural Mix occur most frequently in inner areas of North London, in particular in the boroughs of Islington, Camden and Brent. They contain many flats above shops along the major Victorian arteries out of London, areas of large old 'rooming houses' close to commercial and industrial centres as well as smaller 'bijou' terraces, originally built for artisans, that are now on the verges of gentrification. These neighbourhoods often contain a scattering of commercial and public sector premises, petrol stations, transportation yards and maintenance depots, delivery centres, pubs, hospitals and fire stations, types of land use that are heavy generators of traffic, bustle and noise.

Many of the neighbourhoods have seen little investment, whether in housing or in public sector provision, due to the declines in their population over the last 100 years, notwithstanding the various inner city programmes that have been designed to alleviate their social problems. Many of these areas are close to council houses and flats, which house high proportions of disadvantaged people who contribute to environmental difficulties such as vandalism, graffiti and physical violence. This results in the local shopkeepers having to secure their premises with lockable shutters after opening hours. Such areas are well served by shops and cafes. The large ethnic minority population ensures a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, and convenience stores and cheap cafes service the large numbers of singles who find it unrewarding to cook for themselves in poorly equipped kitchens. Cramped conditions at home make pubs popular centres for meeting others, and cinemas, clubs and bars are often close at hand. For many residents close proximity to the variety of cultural opportunities offered by central London is a major benefit of living in these neighbourhoods. Time Out as well as The Guardian achieves high sales levels at the local newsagent and the Big Issue is sold at the entrance to local tube stations.

Economy
Neighbourhoods of Counter Cultural Mix have good and easy access to a wide range of central London service jobs. However many of these jobs are in unskilled positions that do not necessarily appeal to all local residents whilst better paid ones often require levels of qualification and experience that may be beyond the reach of significant numbers of local people. Some people do not want to work in jobs which bring them into contact with customers whilst others don't relish the disciplines of jobs that don't allow them to display creativity or individual initiative. As a result these neighbourhoods experience higher levels of unemployment than would be expected from a population that is not particularly poorly qualified.

Consumer Values
Many people in Counter Cultural Mix have, for one reason or another, rejected conventional consumerist values. This includes rejection of the political system, rejection of standard family values and the rejection of the conventional materialist lifestyles that most marketing communications promote. This rejection can result in apathy but more often in active engagement in counter cultural activities, hence the success of The Big Issue. Clearly not everyone is these neighbourhoods shares this orientation but it is does affect a large enough minority to have a major influence on local business.

Consumption Patterns
Counter Cultural Mix represents a poor market for most mass-market consumer propositions but offers significant opportunities in the entertainment and leisure sector, particularly for avant-garde films and radical artistic enterprises.

Change
The size of Counter Cultural Mix is tending to reduce as young professionals seek to gentrify ever less prestigious neighbourhoods and as members of minority communities move out of their traditional melting pots into areas of Settled Minorities housing. In many areas, the Caribbean and Bangladeshi communities are being replaced by refugees from Somalia, the Middle East and the Balkans, just as in earlier times they themselves replaced the Irish who originally settled in many of these communities.

Culture and Consumer Psychology
The young people who make up Counter Cultural Mix see themselves as stylish, adventurous and creative individuals who stand out in the crowd. They engage in consumption, partly as a means of creating and sustaining this self-image. Image and identity are all important. They are not yet 'identity achieved' in terms of their self image, their career, their financial position or their homes, although many may see themselves buying a home and settling down in the future.

They constantly scan the marketplace for new offerings and try to keep well informed about new developments in fashion and consumption. In this way, they are 'market mavens' ­ informal consumption experts, whose friends, family and colleagues will often turn to for advice on products and services. However, they are not necessarily the innovators who will always want to be the first to buy new products and gadgets; rather they like to know exactly what is on offer so that when they are ready to buy, they have the benefit of the knowledge and information they have gleaned from many sources.

They absorb marketing information from a wide variety of sources; the Internet, TV programmes and other media sources such as magazines, shopping and browsing, and advertising. They are highly advertising literate and are receptive to advertising messages wherever they occur, be it posters at the roadside, advertising in taxis or in the press, or on TV. It is as if they are constantly 'tuned in' to the market and what's happening, and they even enjoy chatting about the latest ads.

They also enjoy spending money and may not always think too carefully about spending, especially when tempted by new offers or when using credit cards. They may well over-stretch themselves to satisfy their hunger for life; whether that be funding a full and varied social life in the trendy bars, cafes and pubs where they like to hang out with their friends or, perhaps on a larger scale, funding foreign travel and holidays off the beaten track to exotic destinations. Spending rather than saving seems to be the norm here. They are unlikely to have savings and investments, although they may be starting to pay attention to financial products with an eye to the longer term future.

For the time being, however, these trendy city dwellers are adventurous and extrovert consumers with a taste for contemporary life. From organic food and alternative therapies, to designer fashion and exotic holidays, these are the consumers who buy into consumer society and all it has to offer. Their TV viewing also links in with their self-image and identity, as they watch programmes with characters and lifestyles with which they probably can identify, such as Sex and the City and Will and Grace.

Live for today and don't worry too much about tomorrow seems to hold true for these Counter Cultural Mix households, although in the back of their minds there probably is a slight nagging worry about job security and long term financial wellbeing ­ after all, if they can't keep up their levels of consumption, how can they live?

NEW URBAN COLONISTS

Summary
New Urban Colonists contains areas, mostly in London, which have been gentrified since the 1960s by a new generation of young professionals quite content to trade access to the city for a higher density of population.

Demography
Until the 1960s it seemed that each new generation of the middle classes would create a new set of suburbs on the urban periphery, relegating previously middle class areas to a gradual erosion of its status and to an ageing population. At some point around 1960, a reversal of this trend began, at least in London. A new generation of young graduates in the arts and humanities, working in the creative industries, found the variety and conviviality of older high density suburbs more stimulating than the quietness and uniformity of outer suburbia. The process of urban re-colonisation began.

New Urban Colonists maps the neighbourhoods that have been transformed in this way. Here very well qualified young professionals travel to central London by public transport to work in well paid jobs in financial services, consultancy, marketing, public relations and the media. Some return in the evening to small flats in big old houses that they rent whilst older workers return to tastefully restored spacious terraced houses that have been refurbished to provide comfortable family accommodation. Property prices are very high in these areas, making them unattractive to minorities wanting to move out from traditional inner city locations, and rents are beyond the means of students and new graduates. Such areas, originally attractive because they were at some distance from noxious industry and the bustle of the docks, are now occupied by knowledge workers rather than industrial managers. What few factories there originally were in these areas closed long ago.

A particular feature of New Urban Colonists is the large number of well qualified women, often working in cultural industries and determined to pursue their careers and delay having children as late as possible. When children do arrive, many continue to work with the assistance of nannies and au pairs or the help of expensive child care facilities.

Environment
New Urban Colonists are most common in London's late Victorian and Edwardian middle class suburbs, such as Wimbledon, Richmond and Ealing. Such neighbourhoods contain a range of housing styles, from humble artisan cottages now subjected to thorough restoration, through larger terraced houses to big old houses divided into small rented flats. The houses of that time, though often dark, were built with large rooms and high ceilings, often in eclectic architectural styles employing gothic motifs and fussy external decoration. Today interior walls have been knocked down to create more spacious 'through rooms' suitable for entertaining as well as for family living and much money has been spent on the redesign of kitchens and bathrooms in which residents spend a disproportionate amount of their time. Most houses are set back from the road behind railings or small but well stocked front gardens, and controlled parking zones are necessary to deter parking by commuters from outside the area. These are certainly leafy suburbs, spring being announced by the flowering of camellias, magnolias and forsythia bushes. A common feature of most of these neighbourhoods is not just the leafy maturity of the immediate streetscape but proximity to a rich variety of public open spaces.

High residential densities result in easy access to buses and tubes and to levels of car ownership and usage which are far lower than in more distant suburbs. Compared with more recent suburbs there is also a much larger choice of local shops, many of them selling fresh vegetables and managed by members of nearby ethnic communities. A particular feature of these areas is the large number of restaurants and cafes offering cuisines from around the world and the large number of small entrepreneurs who have set up businesses offering services for the restoration of 'original features'. Compared with their counterparts in more distant suburbs, residents undertake more frequent but smaller shopping trips, which more often involve visits to a large number of different locations than to a single purpose built shopping complex.

Economy
New Urban Colonists is found mostly in London with easy access, particularly via the District Line, to city centre jobs. Located more often to the west than the east of the city, people are more likely to work in the West End and, to a lesser extent, in the City than in Docklands. Access to Heathrow is important for the significant number of the population who work in jobs that require regular international travel.

Consumer Values
New Urban Colonists contains people who demand much of life but who often have less time than they would like to fit in all the things that they would like to do. They are very open to new fashions both in taste and in thinking, and are alert to issues that affect others as well as themselves and to international as well as national trends. These are avid consumers of information, whether from books, the Internet or magazines and rely on newspapers, and in particular features and supplements, rather than television to learn about new products. Highly sensitive to the nuances of style and taste, they have little interest in mass-market brands that do not deliver high levels of personalisation.

Consumption Patterns
New Urban Colonists spends a relatively high proportion of their income on housing and a relatively low proportion on motoring. Indeed for many the equity in their homes is a more important long term investment than their holdings in stocks and shares. These people are particularly interested in what they eat, not just at restaurants but also at home, and are keen to take advantage of any local food stores offering exotic, organic or home made foods. They frequently fly to foreign holiday destinations as well as on business trips. Older residents may own properties in rural France. Keeping fit is of greater interest than spectator sports or participation in team sports, and tennis clubs and gyms play a more socially important role than the golf course.

Change
The needs of New Urban Colonists will continue to grow in future years. Competition for a limited housing stock in these neighbourhoods, will drive up prices to the point where newcomers increasingly look to surrounding areas for better value for money and better long term prospects for capital appreciation, thereby competing with Settled Minorities by whom many of them are currently being colonised.

Culture and Consumer Psychology
New Urban Colonists consists largely of singles and couples without children. They enjoy cosmopolitan lifestyles and are high achievers, either at the top, or on the way to the top of their chosen careers. High earners who like to live well, these are ambitious people who are inclined to be dissatisfied with life as it is. They are motivated to improve their situation for the future, maybe through greater investment in financial products designed to provide financial security, and possibly through lucrative career moves. Indeed, these are the people who may well be 'headhunted' for their next positions. Women, in particular, are very highly represented in the higher managerial and professional occupations.

Educated and intellectual, these are discerning consumers who may consider themselves to be risk takers who enjoy challenge and novelty. However, in practice, careful planning is likely to outweigh spontaneity or impulsiveness. Careful consideration is likely to be given to important issues around consumption, such as recycling, environmental concerns and ethical business. They are more likely to make lifestyle statements through choosing vegetarian diets and organic food, for example, than through choosing 'status' brands and public goods for ostentatious display. That is not to say, however, that they do not engage heavily in consumption as part of their lifestyle ­ indeed, as would be expected, these consumers enjoy the cosmopolitan good life; the present day version of café society is represented here with eating out, the Arts, cinema, travel, history, classical music and fine wine featuring prominently.

Neighbourhood ambience and style is more important than neighbourhood or community roots, and these consumers are likely to feel equally at home in any major city which offers a locale which broadly equates with the style and atmosphere of their current surroundings ­ indeed they would most probably welcome the Euro and may even increasingly see themselves as European citizens.

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