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SPEAKERS

Isobel Chillman, Relationships Director, Retail Week

As Relationships Director for Retail Week and World Retail Congress, Isobel builds connections with global retailers and non-retail partners alike. Joining Retail Week in 2015, her passion for diversity and inclusion has helped shape Be Inspired, Retail Week's initiative to promote D&I throughout the retail sector, and encourage brands to develop a culture of career confidence.

Chris Chalmers, Marketing and Digital Director, Studio Retail Group

Chris Chalmers joined Studio as Marketing and Digital Director in 2018. Prior to that, his career history spans both leisure and retail, including stints at Tesco as Grocery Marketing Manager and at low-cost airline Jet2 as General Manager.

Megan Dunsby, Commercial Content Editor, Retail Week

Megan Dunsby is Retail Week’s Commercial Content Editor. A former journalist and features editor, Megan joined the team 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 diversity and inclusion programme. In 2018, Megan was named among The Drum’s 50 under 30 Top Women in Digital and, in 2016, was recognised with the Silver Rising Star accolade at the British Media Awards.

James Brewer, Digital and Brand Director, DFS

James Brewer joined DFS as Head of Digital Media in 2011, working his way up to his current role of Digital and Brand Director at the furniture retailer. Prior to that, he worked at Boots in buying and marketing roles.

Simon Leesley, Managing Director, Stitch Fix

As Managing Director of Stitch Fix, Simon oversees all aspects of business and operations. Prior to this, he was Vice-President of Strategy for Stitch Fix in the US, driving strategy, corporate development and M&A for three years. During that time, he led successful category expansions while overseeing other key strategic priorities at the company. Simon also spent time as an operator, overseeing styling and customer service when he joined Stitch Fix in September 2013. Before Stitch Fix, he held roles at Boston Consulting Group and the Neiman Marcus Group.

David Morton, Solutions Director, Arvato

David is responsible for developing Arvato’s solutions across customer services (CRM), business process outsourcing (BPO) and intelligent automation (IA). Throughout his extensive experience, he has led strategic engagement with some of the most respected global consumer brands, together with a broad range of innovative public sector clients. With more than 25 years’ experience within outsourcing, he has held senior sales and solutions roles with leading providers in the industry and is passionate about driving strategic value for clients through digital transformation powered by people, to improve the employee and customer experience.

Grace Bowden, Head of Content, Retail Week

Grace Bowden is Head of Content for Retail Week. She covers a variety of sectors including value, sports and leisure, health and beauty, and lingerie, as well as wider technology developments across retail. She is interested in new appointments, store formats and how retailers are keeping pace with the myriad of technological developments across the industry, from their boardrooms to their shop floors.

Paul Airey, Head of Technology Solutions, Marks & Spencer

Paul began his career at Marks & Spencer in 2010 as POS Programme Manager and worked in several tech roles throughout the business before becoming Head of Technology Solutions at the retailer. Prior to M&S, he worked at Accenture as a Senior Manager.

Jonathan Holmes, Founder and Chief Executive, LuxDeco

A tech and design entrepreneur with previous businesses in digital, ecommerce and media, Jonathan decided in 2012 to own the digital space for luxury interior design retail. Fuelled by an entrepreneurial spirit, he created LuxDeco – a destination for luxury design enthusiasts to discover and shop the most world’s most beautiful products and arguably the most disruptive digital platform the industry has welcomed. As LuxDeco’s founder, he is entirely customer-obsessed and ever-passionate about helping others live beautifully.

Mike Jordan, Chief Executive, Bink

Mike Jordan is Chief Executive of Bink with oversight and management of company strategy and execution across all functional areas. A senior executive with extensive experience in payments and financial technology in both scaled, turnaround and early-stage organisations, Mike is a passionate leader with experience of managing large teams and building executive-level talent. He is an expert on emerging technology and the associated impacts on consumer engagement, sector disruption and innovation, with more than 25 years’ experience in financial services and the payment card industry gained across diverse cultures and multiple geographies.

Lisa Byfield-Green, Research Director, Retail Week

Lisa Byfield-Green is Research Director at Retail Week, responsible for data insight, analyst content and advisory research. 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.

Ian Shepherd, Chair, Bensons for Beds, and Retail Consultant

Ian Shepherd is Chair of Bensons for Beds, a PE-backed retailer. Over the last 25 years, he has served as CEO, COO and in senior commercial roles for a variety of leading retail, hospitality and media brands including Odeon, Game, Vodafone and Sky. Ian is also the author of two books on retailing and regularly advises retailers, investors and technology start-ups.

Nigel Lahiri, General Manager EMEA, GreyOrange

Nigel has worked in supply chain execution and planning for more than 20 years. He’s held strategic leadership positions in Symphony Retail, BlueYonder, Manhattan Associates, EXE Technologies and Kewill Logistics. His particular area of focus is retail supply chains, having helped some of the largest retailers in Europe adopt new technologies in order to optimise their supply chains. Nigel is the General Manager for GreyOrange EMEA and the Country Manager for the UK. He joined GreyOrange in February 2020 to help accelerate the growth of the business in the region.

Chris McShane, Managing Director, Halfords Mobile Experts, and President, Avayler

Chris McShane is a technology industry veteran with two decades of experience building and scaling enterprise retail, automotive, telco and SaaS businesses. In addition to his role as President and Chief Operating Officer of Avayler, Chris is Managing Director of Halfords Mobile Experts, leading the service operations and strategy for the business. Prior to Halfords, McShane spent many years in strategic and commercial leadership roles in the UK and globally. At Avayler he drives the business strategy, enterprise penetration and product innovation with a clear focus on delivering customer-centric technology.

Nick Glynne, Founder and Chief Executive, Buy It Direct Group

After graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in social anthropology, Nick produced a series of documentaries for BBC and Channel 4. However, having always nurtured entrepreneurial ambitions, he went on to buy Easy Computers (now Laptops Direct) in 1999 and has since transformed a number of other brands that are now part of the Buy It Direct Group, including Furniture 123, Appliances Direct and Better Bathrooms. Buy It Direct’s turnover increased by more than 20% year on year to £436m in the year ending March 31, 2021, and profit increased from £8m to £35m in the same timeframe.

Jon Weg, Chief Transformation Officer, Fortnum & Mason

Jon joined Fortnum & Mason in 2020 to enable its digital transformation. He has more than 20 years of leadership experience in world-renowned brands including Burberry, The Body Shop, Gillette and Deloitte. He has led international delivery teams for much of this time, including 18 months based in China and 12 months in Germany. Throughout his career, Jon has accumulated a proven track record of delivering world-firsts, ranging from immersive in-store experiences to implementing road-charging schemes.

Gerry Lavin, Chief Technology Officer, Citrix

Gerry believes that IT should enable people to achieve their very best. IT solutions should provide users with the space they need to think, be creative and develop new and innovative ways to solve real-world problems. His knowledge and insight have been developed over 20 years working in the IT industry, as both a vendor and a customer. He is always looking for ways to better match products and solutions to customer needs and strategy. Gerry is interested and intrigued by workspace modernisation, digital transformation, the importance of ICT to sustainability, new ways of thinking about the world, great writing and innovative ideas.

Cathryn Higgs, Head of Food Policy, The Co-op

Cathryn is Head of Food Policy at the Co-op, where she is responsible for sustainability commitments and climate strategy for the convenience retailer. Additionally, she oversees other areas of strategy and delivery for the Co-op, including its human rights due-diligence programme, health and nutrition, environmental standards, food waste reduction and sustainable packaging. Before joining the retailer, Cathryn worked as a microbiologist in the food and household sector. She is also a member of the Food Ethics Council and passionate about finding real, workable solutions to food systems challenges and championing a citizen-centric approach to policy and decision making. In 2020, Cathryn was recognised as the Edie Sustainability Leader of the Year.

Nicole Vanderbilt, UK Managing Director, Bookshop.org

Nicole Vanderbilt has more than 25 years of experience in the consumer internet industry. Most recently, she served as Vice-President for International at Etsy, where she helped almost a million small creative businesses sell more than $1.5bn online annually via Etsy’s platform.

James Knowles, Head of Content Innovation, Retail Week

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

Chris Gale, Head of Social Impact, eBay

Chris Gale leads eBay’s social impact work in the UK, focusing on the role of ecommerce in driving positive social change and empowering economic opportunity across disadvantaged and marginalised communities. With a deep passion, understanding and commitment to social and environmental issues, working across both the NGO and business sector, Chris believes that business has the potential to be a force for positive change in the world – to make a real difference to the lives of people and the planet. Prior to joining eBay in 2020, he spent seven years working on issues surrounding education and skills development in Ghana, India and South Africa. He then transitioned into working more closely on how business can drive social impact, spending time at Marks & Spencer and Ben & Jerry’s where he led their social mission strategy in Europe, focusing on refugee and asylum rights.