The 2026 Programme

Registration

Chair’s Welcome Address

Darren Sanderson-Williams, Specsavers

Retail Opening Address: Retail strategy and using technology to drive growth

This opening session looks at how leaders are using technology, digital and data to respond to changing customer expectations, improve performance and create new opportunities for growth.

• Macro pressures, cost management, and resilience
• From survival to growth: leadership priorities
• Hybrid models and smarter digital investment

Russell Danks, former Chief Innovation & Comms Officer, PureGym

Retail Insights Panel: From strategy to results - ensuring technology and AI delivers

There is no shortage of investment in AI and technology. The challenge is making it deliver. Our panel explores how retailers are prioritising investment, measuring results and turning technology into better customer experiences, more engaged teams and measurable business value.

• Smart digital investments that deliver results
• Employee engagement and frontline feedback loops
• Customer experience - why basics still win

John Magill, former European Head of Store Design & Merchandising, Sky; Founder
IconiQ
Steve Webster, former Global eCommerce Director, Barbour; Founder, Barking Cat Advisory
Alison Hands, CEO, Lincolnshire Co-op
Aman Bhattari, Head of Enterprise Customer Outcomes, ThoughtSpot

Morning Coffee & Networking

Retail Panel: AI and the future of retail - people, operations and customer experience

This session examines how AI is reshaping operating models, from workforce transformation to organisational design, and why investing in people is critical to unlocking the full potential of AI.

• Agentic AI and workforce transformation
• AI-enabled teams and organisational design
• Investing in people to accelerate adoption

Pim Vellenga, Head of Operations, BatchLDN
Nuno Miller, former Digital Chief Operating Officer, N Brown Group
Rachel Ormerod, Product Operations Manager, FatFace
Speaker from Rotageek to be announced
Moderator: Ryan Llewllyn-Pace, Host, The Fashion Think Tank (TFTT)

Retail Showcase Panel: Retail tech meets human reality - empowering colleagues

This discussion will be an exploration of how technology is being embedded into retail organisations, focusing on empowering store teams, balancing automation with human connection and ensuring successful adoption at every level.

• Embedding AI into organisations and culture
• Empowering store teams with technology
• Balancing automation with human connection

Graham Dixon, CTO, x-hoppers

Alessandro Zulberti, Senior UX Researcher & Accessibility Lead, Victorinox

Joe Pennington, former Retail Director, ProCook

Shannon Osman, Head of Retail, Footasylum

Lunch & Networking

Retail Fireside Chat: Making the business case for investment - turning technology into added value

This practical discussion from a finance lens, will explore how to articulate the value of technology investments, manage operational realities and successfully build the business case for innovation. 

• The CFO perspective - what is measurable ROI?
• Communicating value to finance
• Inventory pressures and operational realities
• Navigating peak season challenges

Ed Duggan, Financial & Commercial Director, Fishpools

Graham Johnston, Owner & CEO, Kitchens International

Retail Insights Panel: Winning and keeping customers - using tech for relevance, loyalty and digital growth

Customers have more choice than ever. This panel explores how retailers are using AI, data, digital marketing and customer insight to stay relevant, build loyalty and drive growth, while rethinking what keeps customers coming back.

• Loyalty isn’t dead – kill or cure?
• AI in digital marketing: acquisition, personalisation, retention
• Why brand loyalty can no longer be assumed

Nick King, Insight Director, Auto Trader

Shetal Bhatt, Group Global Head of Digital Marketing, Loyalty & Consumer Engagement, Costa Coffee

Kate Murray, Digital Director, Nobody's Child

Janis Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer, Clothes Doctor

Afternoon Coffee & Networking

Retail Experts Fireside Chat: Growing beyond the UK - marketplaces, tech and new markets

This session explores how retailers are scaling internationally, balancing global ambition with local nuance, and using technology, marketplaces and AI to drive sustainable growth in new markets.

• Scaling internationally with local nuance
• Marketplace strategies for global growth
• Tech and AI to drive marketplace scale

Preeya Ogier, Founder, Curl Jar

Retail Spotlight: Community led retail - a new promise in an increasingly digital world

Retail is evolving rapidly, but one constant remains: people buy from people. Consumers increasingly value trust, authenticity and personal recommendation in an age of AI, automation and digital overload.

• How direct selling/D2C creates meaningful connections that traditional and online channels can struggle to replicate
• Building belonging, not just transactions - the role of local networks, shared experiences and peer-to-peer advocacy
• What wider retail can learn from direct selling about cultivating communities rather than audiences
• Balancing technology, convenience and data with the enduring value of human connection

Susannah Schofield OBE, Director General, Direct Selling Association

Chair’s Closing Summary