Meet The 2024 Speakers

Dr Anamika Datta has 10 years of tech product experience in the eCommerce industry across India and Europe, with such companies as Amazon, Zalando and Flipkart. She has worked in verticals from fashion to med-tech, to real estate and education, with various roles from site merchandiser, marketing manager, to most recently being a senior product lead with Zalando. She is also a product instructor with the Product School, Silicon Valley. Anamika specialises in AI product management, Gen Z consumer trends and future innovation in tech.

George McNeil is the Managing Director Retail, Johnstons of Elgin, where he has been for the past 14 years. Johnstons of Elgin is a textile manufacturing business that is growing their retail arm through the development of their own Johnstons of Elgin brand. This career has led George to call himself a retailer through and through. He started his retail career at the age of 15, working as a weekend member of staff selling tents and the like from Millets of Union Street Glasgow. After working for Millets in excess of 16 years, in a number of different positions, latterly as an Area Manager based from Northampton, George moved to Puma where he ran their UK retail arm for the first year followed by a European Operations role for his second year.

Maria White works as Global SEO Lead at Kurt Geiger and is a regular contributor at Search Engine Land. She specialises in attracting relevant and converting traffic globally for Kurt Geiger, as well as consumer trends analysis, technical and international SEO, and global digital PR. In October 2023, Maria was featured in Google’s Search Central live conference in Zurich.

Aaron Chatterley co-founded beauty retailer Feelunique in 2005. He led a partial sale of the business to private equity in 2012, and in September 2021, sold the company to LVMH/Sephora for an enterprise value of £132m. He recently co-founded and launched Indu, a new teen beauty brand. Aaron is an independent Director of Nasdaq listed beauty acquisition company Waldencast, a non-Executive Director of Digital Jersey and an Ambassador for the Prince’s Trust Women Supporting Women. He was voted one of the 50 most powerful people in Online Retail for 2014 by Retail Week, IoD Director of the Year for a Large Organisation 2013 and finalist in the UK Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2012.

Luke Phillips started the role of IT Director at nail care brand Townhouse in June 2023, after serving as Programme Director Studio Retail since 2020. He was previously Head of IT at Kurt Geiger and IT Director at Crew Clothing Company. Luke is passionate about developing high performing IT organisations to meet the needs of growing consumer facing businesses.

Ali McAleavy worked in fashion for over 20 years for some of the most well-known UK brands, most recently as Head of Buying for Topshop. Disillusioned at the growing dominance of fast fashion which prioritised price over quality, and the overconsumption it encouraged, she decided to be part of the solution, not the problem. As a mum of three she recognised the obvious need for sustainable options in children’s fashion, where clothes and shoes are often outgrown before they are outworn. In 2021, she launched ZIG+STAR, an innovative children’s footwear brand that uses sustainable design to create products that grow with the child, while incentivising circular practices to prevent their products ending in landfill.  They have won awards for both design and sustainability and are stocked in Selfridges.

Tara Carlile-Swift is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Freckleface Home Fragrance, alongside her son Noah – the duo started the business from the kitchen table in 2017, when Noah was just 14. They have seen phenomenal growth since their humble beginnings and currently have five home fragrance retail stores, a coffee shop, online store and are stocked by over 850 garden centres/gift shops in the UK. Freckleface celebrated a fantastic year in 2023 – as well as seeing over 50% increase in sales across the business, they won Gift of the Year for their pick + mix wax melts, won Family Business of the Year at the Lincolnshire Business Awards and also became the licensee of home fragrance products for the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society, launching two ranges; heritage and botanics. As a business, this year the focus is on building the brand to be more recognisable on the high street and growing their high street customer base, to convert them to online or trade customers.

As the former Managing Director of Rituals, Penny Grivea orchestrated the brand’s remarkable growth in the UK & Ireland, expanding its retail presence from 9 to 80 stand alone stores and forging strategic partnerships to amplify brand visibility. Her visionary and personal approach to team development and fostering an entrepreneurial culture led to Rituals’ emergence as a premier well-being brand through innovative marketing campaigns and exceptional customer service initiatives. With a proven track record of driving accelerated growth and profitability, Penny’s strategic acumen and passion for mentorship continue to make her a driving force in the industry as a Non-Executive Director and Board Member of NBCC. Prior to her tenure at Rituals, Penny held prominent positions at luxury retailers including Folli Follie, Selfridges, and Harrods, further solidifying her expertise in premium brand management and retail strategy.

Led by Chief Executive Tony Brown, Bodycare has the ambition to be a ‘truly national brand,’ the health and beauty retailer’s portfolio has grown to more than 130 stores across the UK. Tony is a retail veteran, who has previously worked as retail director of BHS, joining the department store chain in 2008. He took up the role up CEO at Beales in 2017, a Bournemouth-based department store chain. He has served as interim managing director at Peacocks, before joining 99p Stores as Chief Operating Officer. After that, he moved to Experience Retail and became group brands GMO at Specialty Fashion Group.

Scott Taylor is Executive Director of Marketing for American Golf – the largest golf retailer in Europe. Passionate about digital marketing, he has been on the board of American Golf since 2021 – driving their success as an omnichannel business. He has more than 18 years of experience in marketing and customer relationship management with some of the UK’s largest retailers. With top-level experience in digital marketing, customer loyalty, data insight and creative brand management, Scott has worked with many major brands including Selfridges, Ted Baker, Arcadia and Uniqlo. An LGBTQ+ advocate, Scott is also the host of The Rainbow Roundtable which features guests to celebrate and discuss all things LGBTQ+ within retail.

Helen Dickinson leads the team and sets the strategic direction of the BRC. She joined in January 2013 and has been working with retailers for over 25 years. In 2016 she was awarded an OBE for Services to Retail. Helen is passionate about diversity and inclusion in retail, acting as the BRC’s Social Mobility Commission ambassador; participating in the Timewise Innovation Unit, looking to support more flexibility in jobs, particularly at senior levels; supporting the Everywoman Retail Ambassadors Programme; and having previously been the Chair of Working Chance, a charity helping women offenders find employment. Helen believes retail can make a strong contribution to communities, and is also on the advisory board for Pennies, a charity which offers digital charity boxes to businesses. Helen was previously UK Head of Retail at KPMG, driving and developing the retail practice and leading relationships and audits for many clients.

As Head of Creative VM for iconic British fashion brand AllSaints, Sarah Buchan is responsible for the retailer’s in-store visual proposition alongside the creative delivery of wider physical touch points such as press events, product launches, fashion shows, pop-ups, and the East London HO showroom. She has worked at AllSaints for over eight years, starting as Head of International VM, where she opened stores across Asia and the Middle East, moving to Head of VM Planning, responsible for product placement and storytelling before taking on her current role overseeing the wider consumer journey.

Darren Williams has been GM with Specsavers since March 2024. He was previously the Global Head of Leasing for Impress where he led site selection, negotiation and legals to lease in all seven markets. Darren is the Founder of Williams Harding Consulting working with start-ups, expanding and distressed businesses, primarily in retail and hospitality, but also outside of these sectors. In addition, he is Non-Executive Chairman of men’s skincare company Scrubd and a Trustee at Action 4 Youth. Darren has formerly held senior roles in several retail and hospitality businesses, including Hotel Chocolat and Unilever. He currently holds two ambassadorial roles, including Schools Role Model for Stonewall, and fundraising and awareness for Target Ovarian Cancer. Williams Harding also partners with a Bulgarian dog rescue centre.

Ryan Llewellyn-Pace is Founder and Chairman of Hay Life clothing, a new unisex fashion brand set to break boundaries as one of the first lifestyle brands to be fully dedicated to unisex fashion. He is also Founder and CEO of the Pace Partnership London (PPL). PPL is a consultancy business working with retailers and brands in the industry including the Frasers Group, Nobody’s Child and Spoke to name a few. Previously, Ryan has been in director roles of world’s leading rugby company Canterbury, working in the JD and Pentland Groups and Managing Director (UK&I and Global Distributors) with Barbour, one of UK’s greatest fashion success stories.  He has worked across US, EMEA and APAC from wholesale, global distributors, Global DTC (heading up Barbour’s Global E-commerce) and licensing.

Greg Tufnell is currently Managing Partner of Prime Advantage Capital Partners, a business advisory and corporate finance company specialising in the consumer, automotive, energy and data sectors. In addition, he is on the Advisory Board at Cabin Zero, a fast-growing travel lifestyle brand for travel hungry millennials and Boulevard Online, a rapid growth VC backed marketplace super seller. Greg is also Chairman of Chinti and Parker, a premium knitwear brand; Common Objective, a sustainability platform for the fashion industry and Radiant Law, in the legal technology sector. Prior to this, he was Chief Executive of Marchpole Holdings for four years, specialising in the management of designer brands such as Yves St Laurent, Ozwald Boateng and Emanuel Ungaro. He was Managing Director of Boxfresh, Mothercare and Burton Menswear, having started his retail career as Buying and Merchandising Director at Next in 1994.

Chris Noice has 15 years of experience in the retail sector, joining the Association of Convenience Stores in 2009. As Communications Director, he is responsible for all ACS external and internal communications, media relations and a growing research portfolio which includes the industry leading Local Shop Report. Chris is an official spokesperson for ACS, appearing frequently on national and regional radio and television news.

Rowland Gee is CEO of The Shoklite Company, a revolutionary new urban cycling/scootering apparel and Director of AromaChimie, a company who supply nutrition for the farming, poultry and livestock industry. He was until recently the Chairman of The Board at Cell Workout Athleisure for the past four years. He is an experienced retail manager with over 35 years of public company experience in the retail, marketing and design sector – he was CEO of Moss Bros Group from 1989-2002 and helped develop Hugo Boss retail operations in the UK to 17 stores. With two co-authors, Rowland wrote The Retail Start Up Book published by KoganPage, which was released in 2019 and is specifically targeted at the retail start up community. He has also founded Grey4Gold.com (G4G) and has recently completed a contract to mentor retail businesses in Wales, and with Cherwell District Council, Shropshire Councils on re-invigorating town centres and on the restoration of the UK high streets

With a 25-year tenure in retail, Steven Hubbard led Ideal Shopping Direct as Managing Director, innovating in eCommerce and live shopping, and has collaborated with major brands including Next, Debenhams, and Arcadia Group. He is currently a Non-Executive Director at the Live Shopping tech company Sprii.

Kevin Duffy began his role as Centre Director at centre:mk Milton Keynes in 2015, following success working within Trinity Leeds, Cabot Circus and Westfield. His first centre management role was as part of a team launching Meadowhall, specifically the Food Court, and then quickly moved in to managing his own centres, culminating in developing some of the best-known destinations across 10 cities in the UK and Ireland. Whilst his background has been focused on opening new developments and refurbishing and extending existing centres, Kevin’s current role has been evolving centre:mk into a UK top 10 retail destination. Kevin has a particular passion for ESG and the community surrounding the centre he oversees is an integral part of that commitment, resulting in achieving a number of highly enviable ESG accreditations to add to his trove of awards.

Andrew Goodacre is CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira). He assumed the role in September 2018 following more than five years as CEO of the Residential Landlords Association and three years as head of retail staff at the Federation of Small Businesses. Before entering the not-for-profit sector, Goodacre worked in hospitality for more than 25 years, including as national operations manager at Punch Taverns.

Steven Kainth has worked at the cutting edge of retail and digital marketing for over 20 years, working with brands such as Ray Ban, Google, Mercedes, Omega Watches, Prada and Samsung. He has an incredible knowledge and deep understanding of how digital technologies are being used to engage consumers and advance humanity and is considered by many as their ‘go to AI guru’. It’s the insight gained working with brands such as PlayStation, Meta and Microsoft that has resulted in him developing a groundbreaking project, Lunaria, an online city that’s a cross between a department store for tomorrow and an interactive media service. It aims to reduce real world carbon emissions and is where visitors can discover planet conscious products and services. Lunaria’s mission is to build an advanced online community that uses product discovery tools and interactive media. The city will soon feature a digital health clinic where users will be able to self-administer media-based medicines.

Giles Smith is a world class, global digital technology leader with a proven track record in building outstanding product, delivery and engineering teams. He is passionate about fostering diverse, bottom-up, and empowered cultures that prioritise teamwork. Giles has deep industry knowledge in digital strategy, technology, and customer experience, coupled with effective communication and on-time, on-budget delivery. He has worked at some of the most well known brands and retailers including Selfridges, Burberry, John Lewis, Arcadia, Walmart and Unilever.

Tim Nash is a visionary strategist with a penchant for creativity, committed to sculpting captivating physical brand encounters that resonate deeply with consumers. With an illustrious career spanning over two decades in the retail sector, he has masterminded numerous globally acclaimed brand initiatives and visual concepts that enchant and engage customers in the real world. Starting from the shop floor and ascending to leadership positions within global organisations, Tim presently leads the charge at IPOS IGNITE. Here, he synergises with a diverse array of brands to orchestrate groundbreaking campaigns that authentically connect with their target audience. Moreover, Tim is the driving force behind Shop Drop Daily, an indispensable resource of inspiration and a leading voice shaping the future landscape of the industry. He is recognised as a LinkedIn Top Voice in retail and a prominent influencer in the realm of reimagining retail.

Claire Petricca-Riding is the Head of the Planning and Environment Team at Irwin Mitchell, which is a team of 12 specialist planning and environmental lawyers who practice in a variety of locations across the UK. Over the last 18 years since qualification, she has built a solid reputation for undertaking contentious and non-contentious environmental and planning work. Claire’s current practice is split between environmental and planning matters across a range of sectors which includes residential development for volume house builders and more bespoke residential led development as well as build to rent and student led accommodation, commercial development, waste management, maritime and renewable energy. This gives Claire the technical expertise to manage complex and challenging planning and environmental issues.

Stuart Harris is Chief Operations Officer at Milligan, where as well as overseeing the running of the company, he acts as Commercial Director and leads on a number of projects. Currently Stuart is working on projects with Local Authorities in Ashford, Sunderland, and Swansea, as well as advising several owners of shopping centres on their repurposing strategies. Stuart has nearly 30 years’ experience in the design, leasing, marketing, and delivery of retail and leisure developments across the UK and Europe. Over the last 15 years Stuart has focussed on Town Centre Regeneration and the repurposing of assets and has acted as lead on a number of award-winning developments in the UK. He is passionate about regeneration and gets a huge amount of satisfaction seeing the positive impact that well thought out regeneration can have on the local community. Stuart also sits on the REVO Regeneration Committee.

Prior to starting with Evergreen Finance as Head of Performance Marketing, Dan Saunders had been the Pure Play eCommerce Channel Manager at Stanley Black & Decker since June 2021, where his main duties include to plan and execute local market eCommerce and digital marketing to increase sales, grow online channels, and grow new and existing online customers. Work “hand in glove” with the commercial teams to ensure a seamless consumer journey and an optimised brand experience. Define the e-strategy for existing brick and mortar retail, plus define the strategy and identify key local market “pure play” e-tailers they should be working with. Dan has worked in marketing for 18 years; within digital marketing he has worked closely with the directors and heads of service to identify new business opportunities and strategies. Alongside this, Dan works on his own eCommerce and Amazon store promoting other products and services. Having an in-depth understanding of different markets and competitors in the area to maintain a competitive advantage which is used to work alongside key stakeholders in managing the translation of the business strategy into clear plans.

Dan Parr ia a Vice President at CACI, with over 25 years of experience in consumer data analytics and its application in place making. CACI are one of the world’s leading consumer and demographic data analytics, location intelligence and customer marketing solutions businesses. He has spent his career developing new techniques to apply to the very real challenges consumer brands and places have faced. In the last 10 years, his experience has broadened to understand the implications of the consumer and the channel that they operate in.  With this insight, Dan has advised the largest consumer brands in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia on the acquisition and development of consumer and place strategy and providing in-depth consultancy across portfolios.  A regular speaker at conferences such as ICSC, Revo, BBC News, SKY TV and contributor to the wider press, he is a thought leader who is driving the industry forward by doing amazing things with data.