Arguably the most recognised male swimmer of his generation. Representing his country for 23 years, Mark became Britain’s most decorated male swimmer after winning a record 47 major international medals. Mark’s post swimming career has seen him reinvent himself as a renowned broadcaster and successful motivational speaker. 

Pavan Pidugu is responsible for Transformation of Customer Interfacing solutions, globally at Walmart and is based in Walmart's global headquarters in USA.. For the last 12+ years, he is focused on retail technology and innovation around the world. His areas of expertise include: conceptualization, design and leadership of pioneering efforts in technology innovations in retail industry. He is recognized for developing strategic roadmaps for large retailers that delivered millions of dollars in revenue and cost savings through organizational change and delivery of technology advancements. Pavan is also working on building product centric development organization that will enable and empower teams to build capabilities that are market driven to help Walmart to compete locally and leverage globally.

Melissa is Head of Digital Product Development for the omni-channel digital customer experiences for Sainsbury’s Argos. Previously, Melissa has been VP of engineering for product management and search for Sears Online and a Technical Product Architect for Microsoft. Melissa sits on the Sainsbury’s Argos Women in Technology panel and was a finalist for Woman of the Year at the Women in IT awards.

Dr. Carsten Keller (43) is Vice President for Direct-to-Consumer at Zalando SE, Europe’s leading online fashion platform. He is responsible for the platform’s digital solutions and oversees Zalando's growing online-to-offline activities. Carsten joined Zalando in 2016 to accelerate the growth of the marketplace business and to build a portfolio of solutions for brand partners (e.g., stock integration, data analytics, wholesale marketplace). Prior to joining Zalando, he served clients in the Fashion and Sportswear industry as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company for twelve years. Carsten holds a Masters degree in Business from the University of Münster and a PhD (summa cum laude) from the University of Bremen.

Simon Torring is the Head of Innovation and Omni-Channel (Southeast Asia) for Sephora, the world's leading beauty and cosmetics retailer owned by French luxury leader LVMH. Prior to its acquisition by Sephora in 2015, Simon was an early employee of the Singapore-based beauty e-retailer Luxola.com. Originally from Denmark, Simon has lived and worked in Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) since 2013 - with no plans of returning to the cold north.

Graham Johnston currently Heads up ‘Omnichannel and Digital First’ for ‘Three UK’, a pivotal role in the transformation programme which is being undertaken by Three UK. Graham leads a team which is accountable for delivering innovative solutions that will transform the customer interactions through Three’s existing channels, alongside exploring new emerging technology solutions to further enhance the customer experience and support sustainable growth for the business.
Graham is a tech enthusiast and has a passion for how technology can provide innovative ways to transform the customer experience. Having recently worked with some of the world’s leading consultancies to create an innovative Retail and Omnichannel strategy, he has become known as an expert in his field which has led to him sharing his thoughts at several conferences and events across the UK and Europe.

Stuart is a passionate and enthusiastic leader in Innovation, process improvement and lean methodology, working within Waitrose, a tier one British Grocer. Having spent 16 years running supermarkets and understanding first hand how inefficiency and poor processes lead to employee frustration, Stuart is now leading Retail innovation for Waitrose having delivered £8m savings to date. Stuart launched the Waitrose Partner Ideas scheme in 2015, managing ideas from grass roots. Recently recognised through the Employee Engagement Alliance Awards 2017. Stuart specialises in idea management and presents on both the subject of engaging employees and also how to deliver employee ideas and bring benefits to an organisation.

Joining EE as Head of Commercial Development, Matt managed the creation of a three-year strategy plan, which resulted in a huge annual profit growth and he also led the commercial transformation of the channel focusing on performance improvement and new category growth. Matt’s vast consumer, product and commercial trading knowledge has influenced his current role as Head of Commercial Development and Store Design. One of his most recent projects involved managing the execution of the biggest transformation of EE’s store design, with the ‘Showcase’ store format, which can be seen in EE stores on Tottenham Court Road and in Westfield White City, Westfield Stratford, Nottingham and Oxford Westgate. These ‘Showcase’ stores convey the breadth of EE’s brand offer; using technology to increase the consumer experience in store. Matt’s collaborative and customer-centric approach to business is evident in this concept and throughout the delivery and execution of store concepts across EE’s estate of over 550 stores.

Guy Smith, head of design at Arcadia Group, is a leading figure in the world of retail design. Previously, he has created unique and award-winning designs for clients including Gap, River Island, Hugo Boss, Nokia and John Lewis.

Already young, Richard knew that retail is his thing. Started as youngest area manager for a big retail chain in the Netherlands he grows from area manager to director of Format & Design. 12 years ago he started with the start up “Rituals” and since then experienced and is one of the key responsible person for ,the amazing growth of Rituals. Responsible for the Format & Design strategy of the company and the general look and feel of all point of sales. His team managed the growth of point of sales locations from 7 stand alone store until 650 and from 700 wholesale locations to 2500 wholesale locations in the last 10 years and numerous of other projects like shopping windows, pop up stores and exhibition stands. Translating the brand philosophy in a retail experience and let the rituals fans get the best “slow down” experience they can have. At Rituals we don’t sell beauty, we’re here to make you feel special!

Martin has 20 years of experience on Retail including roles across different regions and countries that has given him a global experience, developing retail programs that create positive shopping experiences, with a strong foundation on insights to create competitive advantages, he also has a strong passion for innovation and developing never seen before experiences in-store. He believes on the importance of delivering memorable experiences in-store with the ambition to develop the future of retail. He joined The LEGO Group  in 2010, and is based at the Global Headquarters in Denmark. He has had different responsibilities, including the creation of the Global Retail Innovation Team that is leading today, where they create new retail experiences that leverage insights with a strong influence on current and future external trends, ensuring we offer relevant and consistently awesome LEGO® experiences on every shopping mission.

Jens is passionate about sports and innovation which drives him to build strong collaborative teams to deliver digital and operational business solutions. His professional journey at adidas started back in 2005. In 2007 he joined retail back office teams where he was responsible for multiple solutions in global retail. He feels grateful that the experience gained from working on building a business helpdesk, sorting stock rooms, selling products, building loyalty program, establishing gift cards, business solutions and omnichannel brought him to lead the global retail mobile department for digital store solutions where he delivers and establishes the vision of how digital store tools and store associate mobile is operated in a complex and challenging environment. Jens is very focused on enhancing purpose build  solutions and is constantly striving for operational excellence and premium consumer experience.

Retail writer, speaker & analyst, Andrew is the founder of Retail Reflections and is one of the most high-profile figures in retail – regularly featuring in the top 20 lists of global retail influencers.

A Forbes contributor and IBM Futurist, Andrew is constantly in demand for both writing and speaking and is regularly quoted in the media - on TV, radio and in the national press.

In a retail career spanning over 20 years, Andrew held senior positions at Kingfisher and Superdrug before going on to work with retailers such as Arcadia, Debenhams, John Lewis and Argos.

In addition to writing his own retail blog, Andrew is a member of the IORMA Advisory Board, a member of REAN, Advisory Board member at Retail Week, Founder of the Retail Advisory Board and is also editor at large for Retail Technology magazine.

Style Psychology Ltd is a (customer) HUMAN experience consultancy with a twist. It is a new view on consumer business stemming from an old view on the human. Our unique formula mixes decades of scientific wisdom on human behaviour, with our team’s unrivalled experience in consumer business and creative thinking unlike any other.
Kate and her associates worked on varied projects with brands like Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser, Desigual. She is currently advising global jewellery brand on their new store concept and had previously collaborated with architectural firm rpa:group on a leisure centre concept design for Water Babies currently being built in China, UK and Germany.
Kate is also a lecturer in consumer psychology, consumer behaviour and customer experience at Regent’s University, Instituto Marangoni and London College of Fashion. She speaks at numerous industry conferences and is often approached by press appearing on Sky News, BBC News and Channel 4 News amongst others

Craig Summers joined Manhattan Associates in early 2017 as Managing Director, UK. In this role, Mr. Summers has responsibility for all aspects of Manhattan’s UK operations including sales, marketing, consulting/project services, customer service and business development. Prior to this, he spent time in a variety of senior leadership roles including Senior Director at Oracle and Enterprise Sales Director at IBM. Craig is an expert in all things customer experience and drove significant change in the Oracle CRM / CX business, transforming its traditional ‘on premise’ software business into a dynamic, transactional Cloud / SaaS business.

Jennifer managed digital and ecommerce at premium paint brand Farrow & Ball for 6 years, went on to work in online customer experience in financial services before leading omni channel proposition at B&Q. Having moved to Hobbycraft in 2017 initially to head up customer loyalty and category marketing, she is now Head of Digital Experience.

Maureen joined Facebook to focus on growing Facebook’s UK Grocery business. Maureen’s experience spans across Sales and Marketing, Client Management, Operations, Strategy and Mergers and Acquisitions. Prior to Facebook, Maureen was on the Leadership Board for Nectar, managing eCommerce and Digital Media. During her time at Nectar she launched Nectar’s Women in Leadership programme and Innovation platform. Many of Maureen’s defining career moments came from her time at News International, working on commercializing digital and content assets for The Times, Sunday Times and The Sun to drive revenue. During her time, she was responsible for launching Su Doku merchandise to the UK retail market.

Tristan is the founder and CEO of Concrete. Tristan launched Concrete in 2003 with the vision of helping retail brands to better manage their operations across their owned-stores, franchise, and wholesale partners. Since then, Concrete has grown to become an international leader in task management, and store communications tools for the retail sector - with clients including Justice, L’Oreal, Vans, and Tiffany & Co.

Kathryn is Group Head of Customer Experience at Hammerson. She is responsible for shaping the experience within Hammerson’s shopping centres and retail parks to help create destinations that excite shoppers, attract retailers, reward investors and serve communities. During her time at Hammerson she has led a number of innovative projects, including the launch of 'Style Seeker' which uses AI visual search technology to help shoppers find products easily. Kathryn previously worked for Home Retail Group for 12 years and during her time there she successfully delivered a number of large scale multi-channel transformation projects, including the implementation of click & collect for Homebase.com. Kathryn’s experience and background gives her an excellent understanding of emerging technologies and trends in both the retail & property sector. Hammerson is a leading retail property company with a real estate portfolio in the UK and France of around £10.6 billion. The Company has investments in 22 major shopping centres, 15 retail parks and 20 premium outlets providing a total of 2.3 million m² of retail space. With 440million shopper visits per annum, leading destinations include including Bullring, Brent Cross, Les Terrasses du Port and Bicester Village.

David has over 30 years of business experience encompassing technical roles, project and general management, marketing and strategy. In IT and IT services firms he has served markets as diverse as public sector, construction and financial services. In the last twenty years he has been leading strategy and foresight, initially in Unisys, the global IT services firm, where he was Director of strategy for a $2bn business.

Today he leads a Futures research firm, helping organisations be better informed on emerging trends and technologies and on embracing change. He is the author of  many works on emerging issues, a regular contributor and chair of both U.K. and E.U. Government events and a much sought after keynote speaker and academic lecturer

Chris advises technology companies on how to sell into retail and the global consumer industries. He run’s a network of 8,000 senior retailers, manages the recruitment of international retailers to major conferences in the US and Europe, and runs a number of vendor communities. Chris published a report on their development of a new sales and marketing model that better reflects the changing way retailers and brands chose, buy and implement technology. Chris believes that the technology industry needs to get better at promoting the value of its solutions, in order to secure higher investment and improve its influence.

Dr. Julian Hensolt has >10 years of work experience in various positions at the Daimler AG, such as purchasing or module strategy. Also, he pursued a PhD in supply chain management, which revealed several disadvantages of the fashion supply chain, compared to other industry segments. For instance, the fashion industry displays 6-16 times higher returns than any other e-commerce segment, clothing is still produced in batch sizes so in the end of the season a lot gets scrapped and more than 3 quarters of the clothing people own is worn less than 4 times in life. Therefore, he founded Dresslife, in order to transfer some of the findings of more innovative supply chains to the fashion industry.

StyleScript offers fashion retailers 1:1 personalization to the highest level. StyleScript provides their customers with highly focused personal style and outfit recommendations that match their individual and specific needs, desires and taste levels. Jonna brings her 15+ years of marketing and eFashion experience together. I’m meeting human needs through Fashion Style AI technology by offering every online user a personal style adviser and personal style profile. This is possible through our patent-pending technology of the Universal Lifestyle Language. My personal drive is making virtual personal fashion style advise a reality and give back personal style insights to customers.

Sophia Miller is the EMEA Business Development Director at Riskified, the global leader in end-to-end fraud prevention. Riskified helps eCommerce merchants including Prada, Gucci, Swarovski, Wish, Samsung, AirEuropa and many other global brands to increase conversion rates by protecting and improving every stage of the buyer journey.

Prior to working at Riskified, Sophia worked in developing partnerships for an educational NGO and in PR at Consultancies in the UK. Sophia graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in History.

Simon is a forward thinking digital innovator. He started a mobile agency in 2006 before the iPhone was launched and in 2014 co-founded connected retail agency Omnifi. The company operates exclusively within physical retail and leisure environments - working with forward thinking clients and clever technology to bring digital and real worlds closer together. Over the past three years the agency has won multiple awards as they continue to successfully deliver connected space innovations for major retail and leisure brands. Simon is a regular speaker and writer on the future of integrated bricks-and-mortar commerce as well as leading the Tech London Advocates Retail Tech group.

Mike’s business and creative philosophy is a simple one; everything starts with humans! It’s this refreshingly grounded perspective and approach that spearheads the creative vision of Green Room Design. His intelligent, considered and highly engaging persona provides audiences with an alternative view of the industry landscape - and in turn - the crux of the challenges that brands and retailers currently face.

Vanda Astfäller holds the position of the Head of Sales Consumer Goods at Wirecard (www.wirecard.de), a leading global technology provider for electronic payment across all sales channels, since 2016. Vanda Astfäller collected her first international experience during her studies abroad at the Free University of Bozen in Italy. Ever since she has been working with large, international client base and played a vital role in the ongoing success of merchants from various industries. After starting her career at Wirecard 7 years ago, Vanda Astfäller has developed an excellent knowledge about payment solutions, risk management and technological innovations, such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, she has been pioneering market-driven approaches to change the future of shopping together with her team.

Karen joined the Intu Group in 2012 as part of the acquisition of StyleMeTV, an online shopping centre. Previously Founder & CEO of Geronimo PR (one of the UK’s largest PR agencies) and Non-executive Chairman of TVC Group (an integrated marketing agency specialising in broadcast & digital; sold to the Economist in March 2012). In addition to her experience in digital media and broadcast, Karen was listed as a leader in her field in the PR Week Powerbook and is a trustee of a large education based charity.

Michele is leading a team focused on creative retail design for the Italian fashion apparel company, Benetton. Michele leads the development and implementation of new retail design concepts with worldwide responsibility.

Andrea Duckett is a passionate marketing leader with over 17 years of experience in brand strategy and a focus on customer engagement. Her user-centric approach and natural curiosity around how customers engage has helped her craft innovative experiences for brands like Aveda.

In her role as the Marketing Director of Affiliate Programmes at PlayNetwork, Andrea partners with brands to evolve the way that they build awareness, adopt new technologies, and ultimately engage with customers—both in-store and beyond.

Annelie is Head of Business Development at AMF Fastigheter, one of Sweden’s largest and most influential property owners, investment and development companies. With a background spanning various industries, including retail, property, finance, energy and communications, Annelie has over 15 years’ expertise in business development and strategy, digital communication and transformation, and public speaking. As a digital strategist and a passionate influencer who constantly strives to stay ahead of the curve as an entrepreneur, Annelie has in-depth knowledge of identifying shifting trends. This includes the adoption of new technologies and predicting how consumer behaviours and demands will influence sectors and business models to evolve – and most importantly, how to keep ahead of this change and capitalise on it. 

Lena is a social and cognitive psychologist who specialises in revealing subconscious attitudes and emotions, which drive people’s behaviour and decision-making.