2026 Speakers

Darren Sanderson-Williams has been General Manager 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.

Liz Jewitt-Cross is the Founder of Future HR and Advisory Partner to the internationally acclaimed and award winning The Coaching Solution. Through her multi-industry career, she has supported over 40 of the UK’s best loved brands, including Sainsbury’s, American Express, National Lottery, Mosaic/Aurora Fashions, Joules, Jaeger, New Look, Pets at Home, Co-Op Lincolnshire, McArthurGlen, as well as Banking, Health, Tech and Private Equity ventures. An expert in navigating high-impact change, Liz is best known for her work and successes as an Interim Chief People Officer and Executive Coach, leading businesses, leaders, and people and change teams through rapid growth, digital transformations, new operating models, M&A’s and critical business turnarounds and restructuring. Through Future HR, and as an Advisory Partner for The Coaching Solution, Liz also champions and supports the next generation of People leaders and is part of a pioneering new mentoring program for first-time Chief People Officers, People Directors, and future talent, which is receiving high interest and exceptional initial feedback for its transformative impact.

Nicola Kowalczuk is an accomplished senior leader recognised for her ability to integrate people, culture, and strategy to drive sustainable, long-term growth. As Chief Growth Officer at JD Sports Fashion, a FTSE 100 global multichannel retailer, she brings a unique combination of commercial insight and human capital expertise, underpinned by her previous tenure as Chief People Officer. Nicola has a proven track record of leading enterprise-wide transformations across large-scale, multi-brand organisations. Passionate about uniting teams and fostering opportunities, she champions innovation-driven cultures and high-impact leadership development. Her approach blends AI-enabled transformation, cultural renewal, and strategic foresight to build resilient, high-performing teams that thrive in fast-moving, dynamic markets. Nicola excels at aligning strategic direction with cultural evolution and operational excellence, ensuring that people, governance, ESG priorities, and commercial objectives work in harmony to unlock organisational value. She has successfully led global teams through complex change and international expansion, consistently accelerating performance and growth.

 

 

 

Rosamond de Jonge is Head of People Services at Center Parcs, where she is focused on simplifying and enhancing the employee experience for over 12,000 employees across the UK and Ireland. In this role, she leads the delivery of high-quality, people-centred services that support the full employee lifecycle, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and a strong connection to business performance. Before joining Center Parcs, Rosamond was European HR Shared Services Director at Claire’s, where she was responsible for leading large-scale HR transformation across multiple countries. She has also held senior roles at Mondelēz International, supporting global and regional HR operations. Her career spans a range of sectors and geographies, with particular expertise in high-volume recruitment, HR service delivery, and employee experience optimisation.

Rob Savin was the Marketing Director at Alpkit from 2019-2023, where he was a member of the Board with responsibility to develop and deliver the digital and marketing strategies, to grow Alpkit in the UK and internationally. Prior to Alpkit, he was Head of Digital Marketing at the Co-op for a year, where he led the Digital Marketing Team in delivering the digital trading of Co-op Funeralcare and Co-op Legal Services. Before that, Rob was Senior Manager Digital Channel at Yorkshire Building Society Group for nearly three years, where he led the eCommerce Team in delivering strong digital trading performance and online customer experience.

Ryan Cheyne is a seasoned HR leader with more than 20 years experience driving people strategies that create exceptional workplaces. Until recently, he was Managing Director of People and Culture at Flutter UK & I, the home of gaming brands Sky Betting and Gaming, Paddy Power, Betfair and tombola. Ryan led the successful creation and rollout of new company values and achieved impressive engagement results, with the team winning awards for their approach and use of data. Prior to Flutter, Ryan was Interim Chief People Officer at Motorpoint, Senior People Director at Rentalcars.com which then merged with Booking.com and prior to that he spent 10 years leading the people team at Pets at Home, where they won the Sunday Times Best Place to Work award in 2013. Throughout his career, Ryan has demonstrated an ability to develop high-performing teams, reduce turnover, and significantly enhance organisational cultures, driving both employee satisfaction and business success.

Maria Long is a strategic HR leader, with over a decade of experience working in retail organisations, including John Lewis and Co-op. She’s an energetic advocate for systemic Business Partnering that unlocks sustainable commercial outcomes for organisations. At the heart of Maria’s outlook is that if people functions can truly tune in to their organisations, customers and employees, they can be the game changers organisations really need.

Suresh Banarse established Surety after more than 30 years of working in leadership roles in hospitality and retail, covering both operations and HR. His approach is to support teams with commercially driven, fit for purpose, HR interventions, helping align people with the business objectives.  With a passion for promoting diversity, Suresh embraces the unique opportunities they have as hospitality people and support leadership teams to rationalise and drive profits, whether downsizing or driving growth through maximising the potential of their people. Before Surety, as the Human Resources Director, he was managing and driving the people strategy for the Ivy Collection and Caprice Holdings, some of the most exclusive restaurants in the UK including Scotts, Sexy Fish and Bacchanalia. Prior to that, Suresh was the People Director at Wahaca; Global HR Director at Gaucho’s Argentinian Restaurant & Cau Restaurants, and before that he was at People Director at YO! Sushi for over eight years.

Chris Shearer-Wright is an equity, diversity, and inclusion professional with over a decade of experience working at British, design-led, lifestyle retailer Oliver Bonas. A firm believer in the power of talking to people and listening to their points of view, Chris chairs the wider EDI team – made up of the leads of the brand’s ERGs, aptly called The Voices networks, as well as key stakeholders from various parts of the business. The networks have supported the brand in the successful implementation of new and updated policies, as well as the creation of engaging inclusive activities, content and a transparent approach to recruitment. Outside of the 9-5, Chris is a mentor to creative entrepreneurs through the Black Business Residency – a 12-month programme developed in partnership with DOES, sponsored by Morgan Stanley and Somerset House.

Sharon Benson has been the HR Director of several organisationsn and has worked for some of the biggest brands. Currently, she is at Boots helping to shape the people strategy, build the case for technology investment and design a future-fit operating model. She says it’s all ‘the brilliant bits’. Her keen eye for business coupled with being financially astute has marked her out as an HR leader that ‘saves’ businesses cash rather than spending it.

Emma Driscoll is an experienced HR, recruitment, and L&D manager who ‘fell into’ recruitment at an early age whilst working in fashion retail and hasn’t looked back since. She has a really diverse background across various fast-paced commercial sectors, including retail, finance, and legal, in both the private and public sectors. Emma is currently working for Rough Trade UK, where her role is a mix of HR, recruitment, and L&D, overseeing about 120 colleagues across the UK. She is driven by colleague engagement, focusing on developing and upskilling team members, and implementing effective reward and recognition programmes. Emma has always been at her best when collaborating with colleagues, focusing on their development, upskilling, and supporting their career progression as they navigate the professional landscape.

Leanna Brennan is currently Senior People Partner at Wingstop UK. Before Wingstop, she was with Revolution Bars Group for three years, firstly as HR Business Partner and then as their Senior People & Culture Partner.

Helen Kidd is an Employment Partner based in Irwin Mitchell’s Manchester office. She is experienced in the full range of employment law issues – specialising in complex employment tribunal litigation, reorganisations, redundancies and TUPE. Helen acts for businesses across a range of sectors including retail, manufacturing and logistics. She supports her clients on day-to-day employment and HR issues, including discrimination and whistleblowing complaints.

Jane Cubbin is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager working within the rail industry, where she focuses on creating inclusive cultures that support colleagues at every level – from frontline to senior leadership. She brings a deeply human perspective to her work, shaped not only by her professional experience but also by her personal journey as a Mum to her transgender son. Jane believes strongly in the power of openness, storytelling and psychological safety to build belonging in the workplace. Known for her honesty and warmth, she is passionate about helping organisations move beyond policy and into lived, everyday inclusion that people can genuinely feel.

Sarah Day is a strategic, commercially focused Chief People Officer with over 25 years’ experience leading transformation and growth across banking, travel, and luxury, premium retail, beauty, and digital consumer brands. She has held CPO and senior HR leadership roles at Stella McCartney, Nelsons, Charlotte Tilbury, and Jack Wills, working across large corporates, start-ups, and founder-led creative environments to build high-performance organisations and strengthen executive leadership capability. Sarah partners closely with CEOs, Boards, investors, and private equity stakeholders to drive value creation, optimise operating models, reduce cost, and scale high-growth businesses. She is deeply passionate about transformation, mentoring, and developing people to realise their full potential.

Ellie Thorpe currently serves as the Head of People Services at Lincolnshire Co-op, a position held since January 2024. Prior to this role, Ellie was the People and Performance Manager at Lincolnshire Co-op from February 2020 to January 2024 and held dual responsibilities as the Resourcing and Policy Manager and People and Performance Advisor from October 2012 to February 2020. Ellie Thorpe holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Human Resources Management and Services, obtained from the University of Lincoln between 2016 and 2019, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in the same field from the same institution, completed from 2010 to 2013.

James Lomax is a Legal Director based in Irwin Mitchell’s Manchester office, where he provides a broad range of advice on non-contentious and contentious aspects of employment law, including complex Employment Tribunal litigation.  James specialises in matters such as working time, TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings), issues of employment status and whistleblowing.

A highly experienced HR professional, Lucy Melling has held a variety of senior roles within people and HR functions including retail, human health and hospitality. In Lucy’s most recent role, as the former Director of People Services for Pets at Home, she was responsible for providing leaders and colleagues across the business with people support. Her experience spans a broad range of disciplines across people and HR functions, including transformation and change, establishing and relocating to new sites, developing a shared service provision, implementing system and data-led programmes through the introduction of a new people system and the creation of meaningful people data to support the business.