In conversation with Teresa Long: why smarter risk decisions matter for retail
Retail is moving quickly, and the risks facing the sector are changing just as fast. We caught up with Teresa Long from WTW to talk about what is keeping retail leaders awake at night, why risk deserves a place in the boardroom and what confident leadership looks like when the path ahead is anything but predictable. Retail leaders have no shortage of challenges on their desks. Which risks feel most pressing right now, and why should the board be paying closer attention?
Retailers are dealing with one of the most complex risk environments I have seen in my career. Margin pressure, changing consumer behaviour, cyber threats, supply chain disruption, workforce challenges, sustainability expectations and rising retail crime are all competing for attention. The difficulty is that none of these risks sits neatly on its own.
Subscribe to TRBTake cyber. An incident can stop online trading, disrupt stores and payments, interrupt suppliers, damage customer trust and create a significant financial loss. The attacks on major UK retailers in 2025 were a real wake-up call, showing just how quickly even a trusted brand can be brought to a standstill.
That is why risk belongs in the boardroom. It is tied directly to strategy, growth, brand trust and financial performance. Every major decision, from omnichannel investment and AI adoption to last-mile delivery and workforce transformation, brings both risk and opportunity.
Boards need a clear view of what could go wrong, how much risk the business is prepared to take and where its most critical dependencies sit. The strongest retailers will be those that use risk management as an enabler, protecting value while making better decisions and moving forward with confidence.
![[Commentary] Teresa Long: Customer Centric Retail: What are the risks?](https://www.theretailbulletin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Shop-assistant-wearing-apron-e1560324563746-150x150.jpg)
You are known for being a trusted adviser as well as a leader. What has shaped the way you work with clients and colleagues?
The biggest lesson has been that trust comes from consistency, curiosity and staying committed for the long term. Many of the businesses I work with are managing significant change under real commercial pressure. They need more than technical insurance advice. They need someone who understands their sector, strategy, operating model and the pressures facing the leadership team.
My starting point is always the client. I want to understand the business first, then explore the risk implications and only after that decide whether insurance or wider risk management support is the right answer. Working in fast-moving, consumer-facing sectors has also taught me that advice must be practical. It is not enough for it to be technically correct; it must be commercially useful and possible to act on.
As a leader, I try to create clarity, give people confidence and make room for different perspectives. Risk is rarely one-dimensional, so the best results come when specialists across cyber, property, casualty, climate, analytics, claims and workforce issues come together around the client’s priorities.
Ultimately, my role is to help clients and colleagues connect the dots, anticipate what may be coming next and make decisions that support resilience as well as growth.
Where are retailers still most likely to have blind spots, and what should leaders be doing now rather than later?
The biggest blind spot is still the extent to which risks are connected. Cyber, supply chain, workforce, property, sustainability and customer experience may be managed separately, but a problem in one area can quickly ripple across the whole business. An order management outage, for example, can affect sales, fulfilment, returns, customer communications, stock visibility and reputation all at once.
Dependency risk is another area that deserves more attention. Retailers increasingly rely on a relatively small number of technology platforms, logistics partners, payment providers, cloud systems and third-party suppliers. AI, automation and omnichannel models can make the business more efficient, but they also increase the consequences when critical infrastructure fails.
I would encourage leaders to start with five practical steps: map the dependencies across stores, digital channels, payments, fulfilment, suppliers and technology; test credible worst-case scenarios; make sure risk and insurance strategies reflect the future business model rather than the historic one; invest in data and early-warning indicators; and give risk clear ownership across the business, with proper board oversight. Retail needs agility, but agility without resilience can quickly become fragility.
Finally, for people building their careers in retail, what is your advice for leading well when the outlook is uncertain?
Stay curious, stay close to the business and do not treat uncertainty as something to avoid. In retail, it is part of the landscape. Consumer behaviour and technology move quickly, while cyber incidents, extreme weather, economic shifts and geopolitical events can unsettle even the strongest organisations. Good leaders stay calm, ask thoughtful questions and help their teams focus on what they can control.
Resilience begins with mindset. Be willing to challenge assumptions, learn from incidents and prepare for scenarios that may feel uncomfortable but are entirely plausible. Create a culture where people can speak up, spot early warning signs and look beyond their own area of the business.
I would also build the broadest commercial understanding you can. Risk is present in decisions about customer experience, technology, people, supply chains, sustainability and brand positioning. The better you understand those connections, the better placed you are to innovate responsibly and protect value while supporting growth.
And do not lose sight of people. As AI, automation and digital tools reshape roles, leaders need to offer clarity, support reskilling and give teams the confidence to adapt. The most resilient teams are not the ones that avoid risk altogether. They are the ones that understand it, prepare for it and use that understanding to make better decisions.
