The Retail Conference 2012 - Speakers
Speakers for The Retail Conference 2012 will be announced over the coming months. Examples of speakers from our 2011 event are listed below.
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Clare Rayner, Founder & Director, The Retail Conference
- Ian Golding, Head of Group Customer Experience, Shop Direct Group
- Richard Dickinson, Chief Executive, New West End Company
- Tom Allason, Founder, Shutl
- Jeremy Michael, Managing Director, Service Management Group
- Tony Bryant, Head of Business Development, K3 Retail
- Nigel J L Rothband, Chief Executive, Retail Trust
Clare Rayner, Founder and Managing Director, The Retail Conference
Clare Rayner, The Retail Champion, is one of the most well-known and respected retail experts in the UK, championing for the success and sustainability of smaller, independent retailers and suppliers to retail. A child born into a family of retailers and entrepreneurs, she is passionate about retail and business: it is in her blood.
Clare started out as a fast-track graduate store management trainee for McDonalds and went on to work with leading retailers such as M&S, Dixons and Argos. She moved swiftly into management roles before being headhunted into senior consulting roles with global software giant SAP, and international management consulting brand, Accenture.
Clare is engaged by clients as a retail consultant, retail speaker and retail mentor. In 2011 she was invited to launch Independent Retailer Month in the UK, a global 'Shop Local' campaign which runs throughout July. She is founder and host of 'The Retail Conference', a highly respected annual retail industry event and managing director of specialist consultancy Retail Acumen.
Clare is a frequent media contributor, regularly featured on BBC TV News, various radio broadcasts, within trade press and digital media, commenting on a wide range of retail and consumer topics. Her retail business book, entitled 'The Retail Champion: 10-steps to Retail Success', published by Kogan Page, is available from 3rd July 2012.
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Ian Golding, Member of the Board, Customer Experience Professionals Association & Head of Group Customer Experience, Shop Direct Group
As Head of Group Customer Experience at Shop Direct Group (SDG), Ian is responsible for building and embedding the customer experience strategy for all retail brands within the SDG portfolio in the UK.
Through the implementation of innovative measurement methodologies such as the OMI (operational measures index) and proving it's link to customer satisfaction measurement through the CSI (customer satisfaction index), SDG are able to align improvement in the customer journey to customer experience strategies that benefit the customer, employee and shareholder.
A certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Ian was recruited into SDG 6 years ago to assist in the deployment of Six Sigma and Lean methodologies. Prior to joining SDG, Ian's involvement in business improvement spans a twelve year period at Brakes Foodservice, Liberata, GE Reinsurance and GE Commercial Finance.
About Shop Direct Group
Shop Direct Group (SDG) is the UK's leading online and home shopping retailer, with fantastic brands such as Littlewoods, Very and isme all under one roof. SDG has an annual turnover of around £1.7 billion and over five million customers. With four UK based contact centres and four warehouses handling over 19 million calls and over 53 million items per year respectively, Shop Direct Group are one of the most exciting retailers around today.
SDG sell all of the major brands - over 700 in total, from Adidas to Zandra Rhodes and everything in between. As if that wasn't enough, SDG sells a pair of jeans and a dress every 12 seconds or five per minute if you prefer!
Shop Direct Group are also one of the largest home furnishing and electrical retailers stocking over 21,000 products including the latest 3D TV's and smartphones.
SDG has several celebrity brand ambassadors who are proud of their brands and some even design product for our brands. Most recently SDG has created several advertising campaigns fronted by celebrities such as Lynda Bellingham, Fearne Cotton, Holly Willoughby, Steve Jones and Coleen Rooney.
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Richard Dickinson, Chief Executive, New West End Company
Richard Dickinson joined the New West End Company in February 2008 - the Business Improvement District established by retailers in and adjacent to Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street. New West End Company also includes most of the major property owners in its district. It works with the Mayor and the GLA, Westminster City Council, and other partners to manage, promote and enhance the West End to ensure the district remains one of the world's top shopping destinations.
Previously Richard was Chief Executive of East Midlands Tourism (2004 - 2007) the body charged with delivering an ambitious £14m marketing-led plan to reposition and promote the counties of that region. Prior to this role he was Director of Strategy & Insight at VisitBritain (2002 - 2003) and also the Acting Chief Executive / Deputy Chief Executive of the English Tourism Council (1999-2003). From 1997-1999 he was Vice President: Strategy & Communications at the World Travel & Tourism Council and prior to that he held roles at the European Commission and the English Tourist Board.
About New West End Company
New West End Company is the Business Improvement District for Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street and 12 neighbouring streets. We are supported by West End businesses, delivering promotional activity, street management services, public realm improvements and business influence to shape the strategic direction and investment into the area. New West End Company works in partnership with the Mayor of London, Westminster City Council and Transport for London to represent the interests of retailers, property owners, hotels, bars & restaurants.
The company is dedicated to driving forward London's West End as the world's top shopping & leisure destination and continues to work with all levels of Government to ensure vital investment and focus remains on London's West End.
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Tom Allason, Founder, Shutl
Tom Allason, Founder, Shutl.
Tom caught the startup bug in his teens and has never recovered. His first 'tech' business attempted to put location-based advertising into the back of NYC cabs in 2002. In 2003 he founded and was CEO of eCourier.co.uk, the online courier company with the purple vans, where he pioneered the use of location-based technology. In '09 eCourier.co.uk reached #6 on Deloitte's list of UK's fastest growing technology businesses.
In '08 Tom founded Shutl, a web-service that connects retailers to local same-day courier companies enabling them to offer their customers immediate or convenient delivery of online purchases.
Tom is the 2010 Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur for London & East of England. He will be sharing a success story and speaking to delegates at The Retail Conference with one of Shutl's happy retail clients.
About Shutl
Shutl solves eCommerce's greatest and longest standing problem - delivery.
Retailers are now able to offer shoppers 2 groundbreaking delivery options:
- Immediate delivery within as little as 90 minutes ('Shutl Now')
- Convenient delivery within a 1 hour window of their choice ('Shutl Later')
Shutl delivers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Shoppers can track their orders in real time on a GPS enabled map. If simply making your customers ecstatic isn't enough for you, Shutl is also proven to dramatically improve average order value & conversion rates!
Retailers currently using Shutl include Argos, Laithwaites and Aurora Fashions - and it will be one of these who you will hear from, alongside Tom, at The Retail Conference.
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Jeremy Michael, Managing Director, Service Management Group
Jeremy joined Service Management Group (SMG) in early 2010 after 12 years in the customer research sector. He has worked on over 120 projects for some of the UK's most notable brands, including HMV, Holiday Inn, Harrods, Pret a Manger, Sony and Subway. With previous agency experience at TNS and Retail Eyes, and shop floor understanding from his time at Thistle Hotels and Waitrose, Jeremy combines his knowledge of the UK market with SMG's 20 years history of customer loyalty expertise to provide a powerful and proven opportunity for UK retailers to better understand and improve the customer experience.
At The Retail Conference 2011 Jeremy will be speaking alongside one of the many happy customers of SMG, sharing their success story and explaining how delegates can also achieve similar results for their retail businesses.
About Service Management Group (SMG)
Service Management Group (SMG) is a forward-thinking research agency conducting store-level, ongoing customer experience measurement and analysis in more than 90,000 locations worldwide. SMG integrates this customer research into actionable business intelligence and service improvement tools for retail, restaurant and service-based companies, linking results to financial performance.
SMG works with several U.K. brands including Superdrug, Burger King, Pets at Home, and TGI FRIDAY's, helping them improve customer loyalty using proven methods for ongoing success.
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Tony Bryant, Head of Business Development, K3 Retail
Tony heads the Multi-Channel Solutions group within K3 Retail Business Solutions.
He has detailed knowledge of the key functions Plan, Buy, Make, Move and Sell and understands the interdependencies of information, products and services.
Tony's deep understanding of the commercial issues facing retailers and developing IT solutions and business processes has been invaluable in establishing K3 as a leading provider of multi-channel solutions.
About K3 Retail
K3 deliver multi-channel solutions based on Microsoft technology to retailers helping them create joined up shopping experiences for their customers whether they choose to buy on-line, direct or in-store.
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Nigel J L Rothband, Chief Executive, Retail Trust
Nigel is Chief Executive of Retail Trust. Born and bred in Manchester, Nigel has spent 35 years in the retail industry.
He started with BHS in 1975 and spent eleven years in various store management positions.
He then joined the Burton Group (which became Arcadia Group) as an Area Manager, holding various positions throughout his 14 year career with them. Including Regional Controller and Head of Marketing & Visual Merchandising for Top Shop & Top Man. His last position at Arcadia was Retail Director.
In 2000 Nigel was appointed Retail Managing Director of The Body Shop and spent 3 years there. He took up his current position as Chief Executive Retail Trust in December 2003.
A keen cricketer, Nigel has represented Great Britain at five Maccabiah Games. He opens the batting for Hertfordshire in the over 50's county championship. In the winter he referees football and has officiated at many league grounds as well as the new Wembley stadium and the Millennium stadium in Cardiff.
He is a founder member of The Professional Speakers Association, a member of the Institute of Directors and a member of M.C.C. Nigel lives in North West London with his wife Nicole and their two sons.
About Retail Trust
Retail Trust is the only charity looking after the needs of all three million people working in retail and those retired from the sector and associated businesses. The charity currently provides grants and services of £1 million a year to those who need it the most.
Retail Trust operates a free and confidential Helpline 0808 801 0808 which provides vital support and a range of services including access to: hardship grants, free counselling, free legal and debt advice, and help with redundancy through the ReWork programme as well as retirement housing throughout the UK.
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