2025 Speakers

Giles Smith is the former Head of Technology for Selfridges, responsible for the technology strategy and delivery of their Digital, physical retail and omnichannel technology. Prior to that he was the Digital Director for Burberry and has also delivered technology innovation and transformation at John Lewis, Arcadia, Matalan, Unilever, Diageo and more. He is a MACH Alliance founding board member and also a new judge on our prestigious People in Retail Awards 2024. He is currently advising, CTO, CPO, and CDO’s in various world-famous brands on broad aspects of Digital product, technology strategy and leadership.

A technically, highly experienced Marketing and eCommerce Director, Tim Fairs has years of retail and omnichannel experience. He has created sales and market share uplifts for well-known companies with annual sales of £200m – £4bn. Tim has a deep knowledge of all marketing/eCommerce disciplines and use of traditional and digital media. Having led business transformation across all operating functions to improve customer satisfaction, sales and the P&L, his most recent role was Head of Marketing at ProCook. Past roles include VP Marketing & eCommerce at Clintons (AG Retail), Customer & Marketing Director at McColl’s Retail Group and Director of Marketing at Bestway Retail.

Paul Morris was previously Director of Digital & eCommerce at Marshalls, Head of Marketing at Tesco Bank, Global Digital & eCommerce Director at PZ Cussons (St Tropez, Imperial Leather, Original Source, etc), led digital marketing at the Co-op Group (Food, Electrical, Funeralcare, etc) and has worked agency (McCann, Havas, Bray Leino Yucca & Visualsoft) and client side with brands including Wickes, Laterooms, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Cash Generator, Stagecoach & Silverstone. He is now Senior Director EMEA Performance Marketing & Web eCommerce at RS Group.

Anjuli Parmar is the Digital Marketing Manager at Bayfields Opticians and Audiologists. Previously she has held roles at Frasers Group, Moda in Pelle and was Senior Marketing Manager at Jacuzzi, where she led all aspects of digital, eCommerce, content, brand, social media, CRM, offline marketing, and retail / local marketing to drive commercial growth.

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.

Hilary Large is an experienced industry expert and the founder of Chandott Marketing. Her career has seen her in senior roles at the BBC, Shop Direct, Hotter Shoes, Chill Factore, In The Style and more recently she was interim CMO for fashion brand Forever Unique. Hilary is also the owner of her own multichannel business Wardrobe at the Cross.

Currently Head of Marketing at ACRE, the fastest growing medical distributor in the UK, Katie Cole is a commercial B2B & B2C marketeer with over 10 years’ experience in the industry retail, beauty and aesthetics industries. She has a wide range of marketing experience, along with experience building and leading a team as developed through several role. She was previously Head of Marketing at Fox Group International and before that, she was at Ello group and spent several years at The Hut Group. Katie is also the founder of Katie Cole Consultancy which offers strategic marketing expertise to help small businesses grow and succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.

Lalit Suryawanshi is the current Head of Architecture at NBrown Group and former Co-founder and CTO of Itechohealth, a Leeds-based healthcare startup. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering and an MBA from INSEAD, France – ranked among the world’s top business schools. With over 25 years of experience, Lalit has led complex digital transformations and delivered measurable business outcomes across sectors including courier and logistics, supply chain, omni-channel retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology consulting. He has successfully built and scaled high-performing technology teams and has worked with leading organizations such as Air Canada, Asda, Walmart, Hermes, QVC, Howdens Joinery, Wilko, NBrown Group, and the NHS.

Adam Aubrey was until recently the Head of eCommerce at KBF Enterprises, the business behind two of the most recognised sports nutrition brands in the UK – Bodybuilding Warehouse® and Warrior®.  He is also a member of Attentive’s Client Advisory Board (CAB), an exclusive forum that brings together top marketing leaders to shape the future of digital marketing and the SMS channel. As a CAB member, we discuss best practices, provide direct product feedback to Attentive’s leadership team, and propose ways Attentive can improve to better suit customers’ needs, having a direct impact on the company’s product roadmap. Prior to working at KBF, Adam was Trading Manager at American Golf, responsible for overall trading, traffic, customer retention and implementation of the marketing plan for Online Golf websites.

Daisy Kelly is the founder of beauty brand Glow For It. Daisy launched the brand whilst she was a student during lockdown, aged just 21, after struggling with a compulsive hair-pulling disorder which left her with depleted eyelashes after becoming compelled to ‘make wishes’ with them. Glow For It is now the no.1 lash growth serum on TikTok UK and is a TikTok viral sensation – with over 9.6 million views on one TikTok video alone and over 69 million impressions in total. The brand is now stocked in Boots and on Amazon and encourages its community to “let your natural beauty glow”. The company now employs nine people and is worth 7 figures, selling nearly half-a-million units of its Lash Growth Serum.

John Brolly is Partner Manager EMEA for Athos Commerce. Platform agnostic and with a passion for Product Discovery and UX, he has worked in digital marketing, marketplaces, logistics and last mile, operations, project management and more recently in Agency land, both at a global and regional level. John’s first foray into digital commerce was building a checkout into paypal a long long time ago. He’s owned a digital print company ‘The Transfer Function’ (2003-2008), producing lookbooks for the fashion industry. Built a curated marketplace ‘Made in these Isles’ (2011-2017), selling lifestyle goods made in the UK and started ‘Soleseek’ selling vintage trainers/sneakers in (2000-10)

Ntola Obazee os a global executive leader driving commercial growth , brand and customer Focus, alomg with marketing digital, technology innovation and strategic transformation. With over two decades of global leadership experience, she has scaled brands, transformed platforms, and delivered customer-centric growth across the UK, Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. Ntola’s career spans fashion, luxury, beauty, lifestyle, automotive, outdoor sports, wines & spirits, F&B, hospitality, and emerging tech – positioning her to lead complex, multi-market organisations through change and innovation. Currently shaping digital in the hospitality and CPG sectors, she bring a visionary mindset and operational precision to every challenge – balancing strategic foresight with hands-on execution.

Teresa Long joined WTW Willis in 2019 and has over 33 years-experience collaborating with clients on their risk and insurance strategy, creating bespoke insurance programmes, and implementing risk mitigation strategies. Her role at WTW is the Industry Leader – Retail, Leisure & Hospitality for GB Risk & Broking and the main purpose of this role is to engage with clients and insurers, to ensure that the services and products WTW offers meets the current and future needs of the sector. Teresa’s approach is to understand the sector, overlay the client specific risks and needs, and work with them to explore insurance or risk management strategies that match their risk appetite and budget. She has worked with a broad range of clients – those who operate boutique or smaller operations, to those who have a significant global presence. Teresa has a strong technical knowledge in general insurance with significant experience in leading client teams and engaging with the insurance market.  As well as working within the insurance broking industry for almost 30 years, Teresa held a senior role at a major insurer as Lead Underwriter for four years.

Shaun Loughlin is a seasoned eCommerce expert with 20 years of hands-on experience across all facets of the industry. Throughout his career, he’s honed his expertise in marketing, user experience, logistics, cross-border retail, technology, data management, and analytics. He has a particular passion for scaling early-stage ecommerce brands internationally, a subject he has even spoken about at 10 Downing Street. Most recently, Shaun has helped the UK’s leading equestrian brand LeMieux achieve a remarkable 200% ecommerce growth in just under three years.

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.

Charlotte Taylor is a Chartered Insurance Broker with almost a decade of experience in the insurance industry, currently specialising in cyber risk management at WTW. With more than six years focused on cyber, Charlotte advises clients across a wide range of sectors and business sizes, helping them navigate the complexities of digital risk and build resilient, forward-looking insurance strategies. Her approach combines deep technical insight with a client-centric ethos. Working in close collaboration with consultants, coverage specialists, and claims experts, Charlotte delivers tailored advice that empowers organisations to make informed decisions about their cybersecurity posture and insurance needs. She leads the placement process when engaging with the Cyber Insurance market, ensuring clients secure appropriate and effective coverage aligned with their risk profile. Prior to her role in cyber, Charlotte spent four years in property insurance, supporting SME clients with risk assessment and insurance placement. This experience provided a strong foundation in core insurance principles and a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by businesses. Charlotte is also an active member of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), where she has served the committee for several years. Her involvement reflects a commitment to industry advancement, professional development, and advocacy for the broker community.

Trevor Gordon is a customer-centric digital, technology and transformation leader who consistently delivers results through innovative use of customer insight, data, AI, and technology to drive game-changing growth, improvements, and efficiencies. With a proven record of driving complex transformation (people, process, tech) and operational leadership for several world-class global businesses in various sectors.   He is recognised for attracting top talent, building and leading culturally diverse, high-performing teams, and fostering a positive, success-oriented work environment. Backed by a proven capability to communicate effectively with senior executive leadership to create a shared strategic agenda, he thrives in crafting strategic visions and steering organisations towards successful implementation. Currently he is Chief Digital & Technology Officer at Save the Children UK, and his recent focus has been on driving transformation by developing new experiences, operations, strategies, propositions, products, services, and new business models for the digital age.

Paul McDermott’s previous roles include eCommerce Director, Marketing Director and Change & Transformation programme management at retail brands including Pentland Brands, Speedo, Poundland, Ryman, Cotswold Outdoor, Snow+Rock and Matalan. He is currently delivering a website transformation programme at Diageo. Paul has an excellent record of leading change, developing people and delivering successful projects in a range of brands and retailers.

Charlotte Fraissé is Senior Programme Manager at eBay with over nine years of experience in technology, consulting and eCommerce. In her current role, she is leading special projects to help eBay sellers navigate the complex, ever-changing regulatory environment. She plays a key role in shaping policies, enhancing seller engagement, and driving trust and safety on the platform. Previously, Charlotte was part of Farfetch’s commercial team, working with luxury retailers on global growth initiatives and omnichannel innovation in luxury eCommerce. With expertise in strategy, digital marketplaces and regulation, she is passionate about the future of e-commerce and industry transformation.

Rupert Cross – CEO, Lead Consultant and Founder at 5874 Commerce – leads their commerce agency with vision and over two decades of expertise in eCommerce. With experience spanning both retail operations and agency leadership, he has a proven track record of driving growth and delivering results. Rupert’s deep understanding of the industry, coupled with his strategic and technical insight, enables him to unlock the full potential of retail businesses and lead them to success.

David Williams is a passionate ecommerce and digital director with extensive experience building and scaling high-performing digital businesses for leading brands across diverse verticals. Companies he has worked for include Aspinal of London, Charles Tyrwhitt, Deckers Brands (Ugg and Hoka), Bowers & Wilkins. He also has his own consultancy DHW Digital which has worked with businesses such as New Look, Hawes and Curtis, and Unilever. More recently has been working in the B2B ecommerce space. He is passionate about building omnichannel customer experiences that satisfy the consumer and drive value for the businesses he works for.

Liam Hewitt is acustomer and growth focused digital professional with over 15 years experience across FMCG, fashion, beauty, electronics & hospitality, now working agency side within the world’s largest creative agency, VML. He was nefore that the Head of Growth at Candy Kittens and before that he was Global Digital & Performance Marketing Director at Gordon Ramsay Restaurants. Liam loves to make an impact within each brand I work with, building high performance teams who feel empowered to drive. He mentors students at Westminster Business School, supporting them with projects and business skill development, where he draws on his agency and client-side experience to help guide their approach to real-world marketing and eCommerce challenges.

Martin Newman, The Consumer Champion, is a globally renowned authority in customer centricity and customer experience. With four decades of experience in the consumer-facing sector, he has revolutionised multichannel operations for brands like Burberry, Ted Baker, Intersport, and Harrods and scaled and sold global eCommerce agency Practicology. As the Founder of The Customer First Group and Customer Service Action, Martin has shaped the consumer-focused landscape and authored influential books “100 Practical Ways to Improve Customer Experience” and “The Power of Customer Experience“. Martin is an Ambassador for The Retail Trust and has served as a trusted advisor and board member for brands such as The Scout Store, The Mayborn Group, In Kind Direct, Wiggle, White Stuff, Afterpay and Marketplacer. His expertise is widely sought after, and he has delivered captivating keynotes for prestigious global events and strategic sessions for top-tier companies like Toyota, Haleon, Specsavers, Pandora, Adobe and Meta. Martin educates and empowers businesses worldwide through his online Mini MBA in Customer Centricity and MBA in a Day workshop.