The Local Data Company

The Local Data Company (LDC), founded in 2003 by Barnaby Oswald, has established itself as a key provider of data intelligence for Great Britain's retail and leisure sectors. Oswald, who previously co-founded the online classifieds business e-street.com in 1998, applied his experience in digital information to the physical retail landscape, growing LDC from a startup to a business with national coverage. A significant milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by Green Street, a prominent US and European commercial real estate intelligence firm, in November 2023. Oswald has remained in a leadership role within Green Street following the acquisition.

The firm's core business revolves around the physical collection and analysis of data on every consumer-facing business across Great Britain's high streets, retail parks, and shopping centres. This is achieved through a dedicated team of field researchers who regularly audit the occupancy status of over 700,000 businesses, supplemented by an in-office research team. The collected data powers an online subscription-based SaaS platform that provides granular insights on openings and closings, market shifts, competitor footprints, and overall portfolio health. Following the acquisition, LDC's offerings have been evolved and integrated into a new platform called Retail Analytics Pro. This platform combines LDC's real-time data with Green Street's property-level analytics, offering enhanced features like a proprietary Health Index, live interactive mapping, and advanced portfolio management tools.

LDC, now operating as Retail Analytics Pro under Green Street's ownership, serves a diverse client base that includes retailers, property investors, financial services firms, and local authorities. These clients utilize the platform for strategic planning, asset underwriting, competitor tracking, and location analysis. By providing detailed, verifiable data on the retail and leisure landscape, the company enables stakeholders to make informed, data-driven decisions regarding investment, leasing, and local economic regeneration. The business model is centered on providing subscription access to its comprehensive data and analytics tools.

Keywords: retail data, leisure sector analytics, UK commercial property, location intelligence, retail property data, high street data, retail park analytics, shopping centre insights, occupancy data, vacancy rate tracking, tenant analysis, competitor benchmarking, property market intelligence, Green Street, Retail Analytics Pro, Barnaby Oswald, real estate data, investment strategy, asset management, portfolio health