SPEAKERS

Our speaker line-up includes top retail names, property leaders and industry experts. Watch this space for more to be announced shortly.

Chris Bargate, Strategy and Development Director, B&Q

Chris Bargate is Strategy and Development Director for B&Q with responsibility for strategy, technology, new store formats, services and partnerships. He has more than 15 years' experience in the retail sector and has worked across a variety of functions and roles.

Julian Beer, Retail General Manager, Liberty

Retail General Manager Julian Beer leads the esteemed Liberty retail team in its iconic Soho flagship store. His experience exceeds 20 years, having previously worked at other renowned luxury brands including Fortnum & Mason.

Julian’s current role at Liberty involves managing day-to-day operations of the store, as well as leading Liberty’s diverse and eccentric retail team to achieving retail success and offering a first-class consumer experience.

Julian and his team work hard to bring the store to life and create a shopping experience that differs from that of a simple transaction.

Lou Bennett, Marketing Director UK and Ireland, Benefit Cosmetics

In her role as Marketing Director, Lou oversees all brand, trade marketing, PR, digital, CRM, D2C and third-party ecommerce. Leading a cross-functional team, she aims to constantly deliver to each and every customer the Benefit brand promise that “laughter is the best cosmetic”. 

Benefit Cosmetics is widely distributed across the nation’s top retailers and etailers, seven own-brand boutiques and a D2C platform. Famous for its disruptive, immersive nature, the last two years have been an opportunity for Benefit Cosmetics to understand and reset against the customers’ brand-new expectations for their beauty and shopping experiences.

Lewis Blitz, Co-Founder and Director, Skinnydip

Alice Boaten, Regional Manager, Marks & Spencer

Grace Bowden, Head of Content, Retail Week

Abi Buller, Foresight Analyst, The Future Laboratory

Lisa Byfield-Green, Research Director, Retail Week

Lisa is responsible for data insight, analyst content and advisory research at Retail Week. Previously, she worked as a senior retail analyst for online and digital, leading research at IGD and Planet Retail (now Edge by Ascential) in the UK and more recently LZ Retailytics in Germany.

Lisa regularly provides commentary on the retail industry and presents at briefings, conferences and workshops.

Brenda Coade, Chief Executive and Co-Founder, Designer Childrenswear

Caroline Crosswell, Chief Retail and Development Officer, Rapha

Caroline Crosswell has always worked in retail. She joined Rapha from Burberry where she led the exponential growth of the emerging markets division until taking on a broader responsibility of business development and real estate across EMEA.

Caroline previously held Managing Director positions with Lola Rose and Neisha Crosland and lived in New York for several years.

Megan Dunsby, Senior Commercial Content Editor, Retail Week

Megan is Retail Week’s Senior Commercial Content Editor. A former journalist and features editor, she joined Retail Week in January 2019 to help brands leverage content to reach the people that matter in retail. Megan also works on Be Inspired, Retail Week’s events and content programme that promotes inclusivity across the sector.

In 2018 she was named among The Drum’s 50 Under 30 Top Women in Digital, and in 2016 she was recognised with the Silver Rising Star accolade at the British Media Awards.

Marcus Fox, Group Managing Director, Agile Retail

Marcus Fox comes from a retail background, having worked for Sainsbury’s for seven years heading up online and retail operations.

He has pioneered Agile Retail’s innovative approach to experimentation and piloting in retail businesses, helping retailers and brands innovate in stores and explore new concepts and methods of reaching customers in an agile and low-risk way.

Steve Franks, Cloud Consultant, CTS

Steve Franks is a Cloud Consultant at CTS, specialising in Google Workspace. Steve began his career in the leisure industry, where he spent over 10 years implementing cloud migration projects at Bannatyne Group. Steve then joined Morrisons where he led Google product management and facilitated integrations with their online fulfilment partner Ocado. While at Morrisons, Steve designed bespoke digital concepts for employee and customer experiences. His experience also spans the finance industry after working with Atom Bank to deliver the transition into a digital native banking platform on Google’s Cloud. With expertise in delivering cloud initiatives across several key industries, Steve has joined CTS as a Cloud Consultant, helping organisations design and deliver digital workplace transformation initiatives.

Nicola Harrison, Director of Commercial Content, Retail Week

As Head of Commercial Content Nicola leads Retail Week’s growing content marketing business Connect.

Her team produces intelligent and timely thought-leadership content for a range of big clients such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft through products including comprehensive reports and live and virtual events.

Nicola’s job is to ensure quality content across all of Connect’s output and to lead on product development while ensuring Connect hits its quarterly revenue targets. She chairs panels, speaks at events and delivers client presentations.

Nicola has 14 years’ experience as a business journalist. She has held positions including News Editor and Content Editor at Retail Week, during which time she led the editorial team to a digital-first approach. Nicola joined the Connect team in 2017.

James Knowles, Head of Content Innovation, Retail Week

James Knowles is Head of Content Innovation for the Retail Week commercial projects team.

He has spent 10 years as a journalist, working across both consumer celebrity and lifestyle magazines and business trade titles, including Retail Jeweller and Drapers, before joining Retail Week in July 2017.

Iain MacKenzie, Store Director, Harvey Nichols

From Manchester to Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds and now Knightsbridge – Store Director Iain MacKenzie has headed up all of these Harvey Nichols stores and he certainly isn’t done yet. Prior to Harvey Nichols Iain worked for Selfridges & Co in Oxford Street and as General Manager of the Manchester Trafford store.

His recent career has involved restructuring the Knightsbridge flagship since 2019, developing a more omnichannel approach, corporate services and successfully navigating the pandemic. Future focus now revolves around improving customer experience as we reach a level of normality. He is very committed to maintaining the company’s relationship with the domestic customer and re-engaging with international customers going forward.

Candice Ohandjanian, Retail Director, Parcel Pending by Quadient

A transformative and highly respected professional among the UK's top 100 retailers, Candice has a proven track record in commercial growth. Her reputation was earned through the delivery and implementation of propositions that outpace the competition and create catalysts for growth.

She has 15 years of experience in retail logistics and was a previous member of Hermes UK’s executive board. She was responsible for 83% of revenue and more than 62% of growth alongside product and marketing functions at Hermes.

As Retail Director at Parcel Pending by Quadient, Candice specialises in intelligent-locker solutions, assisting clients who are looking to strengthen their customer experience post-Covid.

Natalia Petelina, Meeting Place Manager, Ingka Centres

Hugh Radojev, Senior Reporter, Retail Week

Hugh Radojev currently covers all things retail property, policy, fashion under £250m market cap and the non-big four grocers for Retail Week. He has also written about department stores, direct-to-consumer brands and emerging retail technologies.

He joined Retail Week in January 2019 from Fundraising Magazine where he was previously Senior Reporter. He also worked at the BBC with Top Gear magazine and began his career as Travel Feature Writer and then Acting Editor of TNT Magazine in his native Australia in 2012.

Mark Saunders, Chief Executive, Mamas & Papas

Rosie Shepard, Reporter, Retail Week

As Reporter for Retail Week, Rosie covers fashion, home and DIY, electricals, general merchandise, sustainability and ethics.

She also has experience in writing commercial content and organising events for the Retail Week audience.

Luke Tugby, Editor, Retail Week

Luke joined Retail Week as a reporter in January 2015, primarily covering the grocery and property sectors. He went on to hold a number of senior roles including head of content and deputy editor, before being promoted to editor in January 2020, assuming responsibility for Retail Week’s editorial output and strategy.

Rhodri Welsh, Store Manager, FatFace

Rhodri Welsh is a Store Manager with broad experience of working in various roles in the retail sector.

After studying for a degree in fashion design, Rhodri started his career as a Sales Assistant at River Island. Since then, he has held numerous roles from Merchandiser and Buyer to Store Manager at leading high street retailers including Next, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Jeff Banks and Hugo Boss.

As Store Manager of FatFace in Cardiff, Rhodri is proud to represent a brand where sustainability is at the core of its values.

Are you a retailer that wants to share how you are investing in your stores? Contact Megan Dunsby to discuss speaking opportunities: megan.dunsby@retail-week.com.