Programme at a glance

Please note the time zone for the programme is British Summer Time (BST) and will be subject to possible change up to the event date.

08:30 - 10:00

Registration, breakfast and networking

10:00 – 10:30

IGD Welcome and Economic Scene Setting

Get the latest market forecasts from IGD’s leading experts.

James Walton, Chief Economist, IGD

James Walton
Chief Economist, IGD

Dan Gillett, Insight Manager IGD

Dan Gillett
Insight Manager, IGD

Guy Ousey, Head of Audience Engagement, IGD

Guy Ousey
Head of Audience Engagement, IGD

10:30 – 10:45

CEO Aldi Business Update

Strategic Update for Aldi UK.

Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer, Aldi UK and Ireland

Giles Hurley,
Chief Executive Officer, Aldi UK and Ireland

10:45 – 11:05

Group Managing Director Sector Update

Grow with Aldi – The data behind Aldi’s performance in 2023 and beyond.

Niall O’Connor, Group Managing Director, Aldi UK and Ireland

Niall O’Connor
Group Managing Director, Aldi UK and Ireland

Dan Ronald, Group Managing Director, Aldi UK

Dan Ronald
Group Managing Director, Aldi UK

11:05 – 12:00

Managing Director Buying Market Update

What Good Looks Like: Growing a Successful Partnership With Aldi.

Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Julie Ashfield
Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Jonathan Neale, Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Jonathan Neale
Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Belinda May Ball, Managing Director Global Sourcing, Aldi SÜD Holding

Belinda May Ball
Managing Director Global Sourcing, Aldi SÜD Holding

12:00 – 13:00

Lunch and Networking

13:00 – 13:30

Executive Leadership Team Q & A followed by special guest speaker

Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer, Aldi UK and Ireland

Giles Hurley,
Chief Executive Officer, Aldi UK and Ireland

Niall O’Connor, Group Managing Director, Aldi UK and Ireland

Niall O’Connor
Group Managing Director, Aldi UK and Ireland

Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Julie Ashfield
Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Jonathan Neale, Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Jonathan Neale
Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

13:30 – 14:00

Special Guest Speaker

Dame Denise Lewis, British sports presenter and former Team GB track and field athlete

Dame Denise Lewis
Team GB Olympic gold medal winning
heptathlete and British sports presenter

14:00 – 14:30

Afternoon Break (Meet the Buyer)

You then have a chance to personalise your afternoon and choose the content that is most relevant to your category and operational needs with Immersion Breakout Sessions and Product Lifecycle Deep Dive Sessions.

Alongside this will be the opportunity to meet and network with the buying and specialist teams during the break and drinks reception (15:30 – 17:00)

14:30 – 15:30

Immersion Breakout Sessions

Categories:

  • Produce & Horticulture
  • Beers, Wines, Spirits and Soft Drinks
  • Non-Food Specialbuys
  • Non-Food Core (Household, Baby, Health & Beauty, Pet, Paper)

14:30 – 17:00

Product Lifecycle Deep Dive Sessions

These 15 minute sessions are designed to be optional so Suppliers can attend based on their specific requirements.

Choose from:

Order to Payment (Business Transformation)

Operational changes to our goods in and invoice procedures

Learn about how we are changing our operational processes for Suppliers including ordering, goods receipt, and invoicing.

Claire Griffiths, Global Business Transformation Director, Aldi UK

Claire Griffiths
Project Director, Aldi UK

Business Partner Readiness for Automation

Preparing for Aldi’s warehouse automation

Hear about the technology we’ll be using in our planned automated warehouses, followed by a discussion about our new packaging requirements.

Lawrence Flynn, National Supply Chain Director, Aldi UK

Lawrence Flynnn
National Supply Chain Director, Aldi UK

Luke Emery, Buying Director - Plastics and Packaging, Aldi UK

Luke Emery
Buying Director - Plastics and Packaging,
Aldi UK

Richard Davies, UK Retail Development Director, Smurfitt Kappa

Richard Davies
UK Retail Development Director, Smurfitt Kappa

Sustainable Packaging

How to make your packaging fit for the future with Aldi

Understand Aldi’s sustainability pledges, objectives, and initiatives regarding packaging. This will involve presentations of packaging reduction success stories across our range, Aldi’s latest recycling initiatives, and discussion regarding how we, and our Business Partners, need to work together to prepare for upcoming UK legislation.

Luke Emery, Buying Director - Plastics and Packaging, Aldi UK

Luke Emery
Buying Director - Plastics and Packaging,
Aldi UK

Taking the Complexity out of Compliance

A formula for growth (Quality Assurance)

Hear about changes to our compliance processes and how you can succeed in getting things right first time.

Dawn Welham, Quality Assurance Director, Aldi UK

Dawn Welham
Quality Assurance Director, Aldi UK

Lewis Furlonger, Project Director, Aldi UK

Lewis Furlonger
Project Director, Aldi UK

Artwork and Critical Path Management

How to optimise project delivery

How to optimise the end to end artwork critical path management process, from the award of the contract to FTP.

Laura Conlon, Brand Director, Aldi UK

Laura Conlon
Brand Director, Aldi UK

Demand Planning

Work with Aldi to optimise future demand planning

Understand more about changes to forecasting within Aldi including the introduction of our Vendor Forecasting App and increased collaboration and communication between Aldi and our Suppliers.

Michael Whitehead, National Supply Chain Director, Aldi UK

Michael Whitehead
National Supply Chain Director, Aldi UK

17:00

Event close

Book your place!

08:30 - 10:00

Registration, breakfast and networking

10:00 – 10:30

IGD Welcome and Economic Scene Setting

Get the latest market forecasts from IGD’s leading experts.

James Walton, Chief Economist, IGD James Walton

Chief Economist, IGD

Dan Gillett, Insight Manager IGD Dan Gillett

Insight Manager, IGD

Guy Ousey, Head of Audience Engagement, IGD Guy Ousey

Head of Audience Engagement, IGD

10:30 – 10:45

CEO Aldi Business Update

Strategic Update for Aldi UK.

Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer, Aldi UK and Ireland Giles Hurley

Chief Executive Officer, Aldi UK and Ireland

10:45 – 11:05

Group Managing Director Sector Update

Grow with Aldi – The data behind Aldi’s performance in 2023 and beyond.

Niall O’Connor, Group Managing Director, Aldi UK and Ireland Niall O’Connor

Group Managing Director, Aldi UK and Ireland

Dan Ronald, Group Managing Director, Aldi UK Dan Ronald

Group Managing Director, Aldi UK

11:05 – 12:00

Managing Director Buying Market Update

What Good Looks Like: Growing a Successful Partnership With Aldi.

Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK Julie Ashfield

Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Jonathan Neale, Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UKJonathan Neale

Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Belinda May Ball, Managing Director Global Sourcing, Aldi SÜD Holding Belinda May Ball

Managing Director Global Sourcing, Aldi SÜD Holding

12:00 – 13:00

Lunch and Networking (Meet the Buyer)

13:00 – 13:30

Executive Leadership Team Q & A

Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer, Aldi UK and Ireland Giles Hurley

Chief Executive Officer,
ALDI UK and Ireland

Niall O’Connor, Group Managing Director, Aldi UK and Ireland Niall O’Connor

Group Managing Director, Aldi UK and Ireland

Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK Julie Ashfield

Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

Jonathan Neale, Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UKJonathan Neale

Managing Director of National Buying, Aldi UK

13:30 – 14:00

Special Guest Speaker

Dame Denise Lewis, British sports presenter and former Team GB track and field athlete Dame Denise Lewis

Team GB Olympic gold medal winning
heptathlete and British sports presenter

14:00 – 14:30

Afternoon Break (Meet the Buyer)

You then have a chance to personalise your afternoon and choose the content that is most relevant to your category and operational needs with Immersion Breakout Sessions and Product Lifecycle Deep Dive Sessions.

Alongside this will be the opportunity to meet and network with the buying and specialist teams during the break and drinks reception (15:30 – 17:00)

14:30 – 15:30

Immersion Breakout Sessions

Hear directly from the Aldi buying team about how we plan to deliver sustainable growth and our priorities for the future.

Focussed category sessions will take place for:

  • Beers, Wines, Spirits & Soft Drinks
  • Produce and Horticulture
  • Non-Food Core Range (Household, Baby, Health & Beauty, Pet, Paper)
  • Non-Food Specialbuys

14:30 – 17:00

Product Lifecycle Deep Dive Sessions

 

These 15 minute sessions are designed to be optional so Suppliers can attend based on their specific requirements.

 

Choose from:

 
Order to Payment (Business Transformation)

Operational changes to our goods in and invoice procedures

Learn about how we are changing our operational processes for Suppliers including ordering, goods receipt, and invoicing.

Claire Griffiths, Global Business Transformation Director, Aldi UK Claire Griffiths

Project Director, Aldi UK

 
Business Partner Readiness for Automation

Preparing for Aldi’s warehouse automation

Hear about the technology we’ll be using in our planned automated warehouses, followed by a discussion about our new packaging requirements.

 

Lawrence Flynn, National Supply Chain Director, Aldi UK Lawrence Flynn

National Supply Chain Director, Aldi UK

Luke Emery, Buying Director - Plastics and Packaging, Aldi UK Luke Emery

Buying Director - Plastics and Packaging, Aldi UK

Richard Davies, UK Retail Development Director, Smurfitt Kappa Richard Davies

UK Retail Development Director, Smurfitt Kappa

 
Sustainable Packaging

How to make your packaging fit for the future with Aldi

Understand Aldi’s sustainability pledges, objectives, and initiatives regarding packaging. This will involve presentations of packaging reduction success stories across our range, Aldi’s latest recycling initiatives, and discussion regarding how we, and our Business Partners, need to work together to prepare for upcoming UK legislation.

 

Luke Emery, Buying Director - Plastics and Packaging, Aldi UK Luke Emery

Buying Director - Plastics and Packaging, Aldi UK

 
Taking the Complexity out of Compliance

A formula for growth (Quality Assurance)

Hear about changes to our compliance processes and how you can succeed in getting things right first time.

 

Dawn Welham, Quality Assurance Director, Aldi UK Dawn Welham

Quality Assurance Director, Aldi UK

Lewis Furlonger, Project Director, Aldi UK Lewis Furlonger

Project Director, Aldi UK

 
Artwork and Critical Path Management

How to optimise project delivery

How to optimise the end to end artwork critical path management process, from the award of the contract to FTP.

 

Laura Conlon, Brand Director, Aldi UK Laura Conlon

Brand Director, Aldi UK

 
Demand Planning

Work with Aldi to optimise future demand planning

Understand more about changes to forecasting within Aldi including the introduction of our Vendor Forecasting App and increased collaboration and communication between Aldi and our Suppliers.

 

Michael Whitehead, National Supply Chain Director, Aldi UK Michael Whitehead

National Supply Chain Director, Aldi UK

 

17:00

Event close