Speakers

Simon has 20 years experience in consumer goods across sales, shopper marketing and category management.

At IGD he tutors on our range of successful workshops alongside developing & delivering bespoke training programmes for customers.

Prior to IGD, Simon headed the customer marketing team at Tata Global Beverages and was responsible for developing the category strategies and shopper marketing. Simon has also worked for Britvic and P&G.

Kris joined Asda in July 2022 as our Chief Commercial Officer, Food. He leads Asda’s food business and is responsible for delivering a market-leading proposition for customers through our Commercial and Supply teams.

Kris joined from Tesco, where he was recently UK Commercial Director, Packaged Foods, Fuel and Tobacco.

His career in Retail began there in 2005 and he grew his knowledge of how to successfully lead teams in our fast-paced industry through taking on responsibility for a number of key categories within the Commercial function.

Kris then broadened his own skills and furthered his development through an overseas appointment as the Chief Commercial Officer for Tesco Lotus in Thailand before he then returned to the UK in December 2020.

Steph joined IRI from Britvic where she spent 5 years as Head of Business Insight. Before that Steph worked in a number of client leadership roles for dunnhumby after initially beginning her career on Unilever’s Future Leaders Programme.

Steph has a strong network and comes very well endorsed by some senior influencers across our industry. Her strong leadership and coaching style add a powerful dynamic to the commercial leadership team. She is an experienced insight leader and performance coach focussed on driving growth and competitive advantage through objective insight and empowering others.

Steph was named by Women in Data as an inaugural member of the “20 in Data & Technology”.

Her passion is growth - personal and business. She strives to provide an objective, evidence-based, insight-led approach with a high level of challenge which enables individuals and teams to take better, faster decisions in order grow themselves and their business.

With experience of top-flight sport in the GB Rowing Team alongside working with Exec-level individuals across a number of businesses, she thrives on understanding what drives performance and how to optimise the chance of success.

Eve has a commercial background with experience in roles across Marketing, Sales and Category Development.

Many of her roles have involved working with project teams spanning across the supply chain, in the UK and Europe. With IGD, Eve delivers projects within the Solutions team and has a particular focus on Category, Health & Sustainability.

Dan has been a shopper insight manager at IGD for five years, focusing on big trends affecting shoppers as well as large format stores.

Prior to that, Dan held insight roles at dunnhumby and at a soft drinks manufacturer, having started out as a graduate buyer at Tesco in the Central European Hardlines team.

Laura works with global retailers and suppliers providing future-focused insights on innovation and trends in the consumer goods industry. Her specialism is in Asian markets. Her focus for the year ahead is developing IGD’s health research.

He joined the Coca-Cola system in 2006 and has held a number of senior commercial roles including Category Planning, Shopper Marketing and Account Management.

Prior to joining the Coca-Cola system Simon worked in a number of different Marketing roles in CPG , Tech & Sports and as a consultant across Europe and Asia.

Ian Morley is Vice President, Sales, P&G Northern Europe, and has more than 30 years’ experience in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industry.

Diane is accountable for all existing customer revenues and contracts, including responsibility for the account management and customer service functions. Additionally, she manages ambitious business growth across the UK and Ireland through the new business and marketing teams.

Ian has been in his current role for seven years, and is responsible for working with senior leaders in the retail industry, in addition to leading the development of P&G’s 250-strong sales organisation.

He is passionate about growing categories and leaving a lasting legacy upon the business through strong talent management strategies.

Ian is also Lead Team Sponsor for Social Mobility at P&G Northern Europe, through which he has led the development of the organisation’s first commercial apprenticeship programme, which began in September 2021. He is also a Trustee and Director at IGD, and Chair of Governors at a local Surrey academy.

Jason joined Tesco in October 1990 through a graduate recruitment programme into the Finance division. At the end of 1993, he moved to Commercial and held a number of positions in both Food and Non Food divisions, including impulse and bakery category director, non food sourcing director and clothing category director.

Following promotion to Commercial Director for UK General Merchandise in 2005, Jason returned to clothing in 2008, taking on responsibility for clothing across Central Europe and Turkey as well as the department store operation in the Czech and Slovak Republics.

In 2012 Jason was appointed CEO Group Clothing adding UK and Ireland store and online operations to his remit as well as taking F&F to Tesco’s Asia business and further afield via franchise partnerships.

In January 2015, Jason was appointed to the Exec Board as Chief Product Officer, responsible for commercial policies and supplier relationships across the Group, and directly responsible for product, range, price, promotions and supply chain for the UK.

July 2018, Jason was promoted to CEO, UK and ROI and became President of IGD in January 2023.

Based in North America, Stewart leads IGD’s global trends research including future commerce, data and technology and health.

Stuart leads the Shopmium business in the UK and Europe. With over 20 years experience across the marketing mix and the last 13 specifically in FMCG & grocery retail, Stuart is a leader in retail media, evolving the ability for brands & retailers to more easily connect with consumers.

Emma Simpson is a well-known face on British TV screens as a business correspondent for the last 14 years with the BBC Business & Economics Unit based in London.

An award-winning journalist and broadcaster, Emma has developed a special focus on the retail sector and regularly appears on the main radio and television bulletins across BBC News.

She joined the Corporation as a graduate news trainee and has worked in many parts of the news operation, including reporting stints in New York and Moscow as well as the Midlands and Scotland. She lives in London and is married with two children.

Lucy has a background in FMCG having worked in buying, category management and account management, working with all major retailers in the UK.

Lucy has worked at IGD since 2019 in the commercial team, working with key manufacturers, and now brings her experience to lead on strategic projects including category vision and commercial competency.

James’ role at IGD is to help businesses anticipate and cope with strategic events, including: economic pressures, geo-political change, social developments and environmental stress.

James is well known for speaking at both UK and international events and provides interviews for TV, radio and the press. He also creates original reports and articles for IGD.

James has worked with clients across the entire grocery industry as well as with non-industry groups such as government departments, financial businesses and NGOs.

James joined IGD in April 1999 and has served in several roles, becoming Chief Economist in 2004.

Prior to joining IGD, he worked for Hillsdown Holdings, Northern Foods and Rank-Xerox.